Intersection
by Darth-Vulturnus
Summary: If you took two Self Inserts from two established AU versions of Bleach, and shunted them into a world suspiciously like canon, just how much trouble could they get up to anyway? SI crossover between Memento Mori and Upon the Wingbeat of Butterflies. Discontinued.
1. Marcus I & Minato I

**DV: Hello loyal subscrubbers (and those of you who are not), as you may have noticed, this is not the rewrite for Memento Mori. No, this is something far grander. I assure you it is both relevant and very important. For those of you who have read Memento Mori, this will have many elements that have changed to accommodate the updated universe of the rewrite (which is currently on hiatus while I do more world building in my notes on it).**

 **US- Basically, this is a collaboration thing. I am Undying Soul 98, and effectively highjacking this section of the Author Notes (Insert shameless advertisement for my fics here). Due to various Reasons I was approached about the idea of a collaboration crossover thing between my fic and his, and this is the strange, strange lovechild. You don't need to have read both stories to enjoy this, but it would probably help if you WERE familiar with Upon the Wingbeat of Butterflies or Memento Mori.**

 **DV: Also, this is AU to the original fanfictions included in this. What that means is that don't assume any backstory is a spoiler for the original works, it may or may not be. Furthermore, this first chapter has two POV's in it. This will not be the norm, so don't expect long chapters all the time, and only expect one POV per chapter.**

 **US- Just throwing it in there that this Marcus is particularly AU, and way ahead of where things presently are in the UWB timeline. Just saying. Anyway… BEHOLD! The crossover nobody asked for, between two fanfics barely anyone has heard of, from two authors nobody likely cares for! So sit back, and enjoy...**

 **Disclaimer: Neither of us own Bleach. It belongs to Tite Kubo, while the individual fanfics we're crossing over belong to each of us respectively.**

* * *

 **Marcus I**

At the end of the day, Marcus had known that it would inevitably come to this. From the very first time he'd met Omega, there had been no doubt that either Marc would kill him, or be killed in return.

Killing a friend tends to evoke that reaction in a person. Killing all of their friends one by one doubly so.

"Well Marc, it appears we've reached the end, doesn't it?" the man said calmly, looking off into the distance. Around him were the buildings that Marc had memorised long ago from years of patrolling- Marcus couldn't help but think of all the people that would be put in danger due to him deciding to confront the killer.

Then again, Marc could admit that he wasn't exactly the most morally upstanding person at the moment, and that with all of his closest allies dead, he _really_ didn't care if the people of Karakura Town were harmed. It was a price he was willing to pay to finally wipe the smugness from the masked features of the bastard, and finally end his wretched existence.

Because that was the only way Marc could describe Omega- wretched.

He'd been in the fictional world of Bleach for around sixteen years, survived the Academy and became a Shinigami, quickly climbed the ranks, picked fights with many people way out of his league, somehow avoided playing into the hands of Aizen's schemes, and had made _lots_ of enemies.

Yet even among people like Sosuke Aizen, Ulquiorra Cipher and the rest of the monstrosities the Gotei 13 regularly fought, Omega still counted as the enemy Marcus could stand the least.

"Got nothing to say?" Omega asked, crossing his metal plated arms. When somebody's entire body is hidden by bronze armour and a mask, and has his voice filtered and distorted, it's difficult to tell their emotions, but Marc could still feel traces of disappointment in the Bloody Knight's tone. It was almost sad that Marc has spent so much time with his nemesis that he had been able to learn how to effortlessly recognise all these things purely through his body language. "No harsh comments, promises or threats?"

"There's nothing that needs to be said." Marc admitted, body loose and relaxed. "You know what I want. This battle was going to happen eventually, and I'm ready for it. Ready to make you _bleed_."

Omega sighed, and straightened his posture. While he still looked casual, he was certainly more prepared for trouble. "Yes. This was the only possible outcome. One final battle between two great enemies. Omega, the Bloody Knight, and Marcus, the Ryoka Shinigami, face off in the slumbering town of Karakura Town! A worthy battle ground for two people to try to kill each other, though we may want to get started soon, before the _other_ battle occurs."

Marcus knew what the other man was referring to. When the events of Bleach had been nothing but a story, he'd known precisely what the endgame was, having watched the entire series all the way through. There was no greater conflict in the series than the final battle of Aizen and Ichigo.

And that battle would soon begin. Marc had left to head through the Dangai to reach the Soul Society just when the events of Fake Karakura Town were concluding, and so he knew that it wouldn't be long now before the Big Bad himself appeared.

It'd be in his best interests to kill the murderer before his former Captain arrived. That way even if Aizen slaughtered him with his nigh unbeatable powers, he'd at least go out with the satisfaction of killing Omega first.

"You're a relic. Just die," then Marcus allowed no more talk, preferring to limit the prefight banter. Without another word, his Zanpakutō appeared in his hands, and he was charging with a massive burst of Shunpo.

Omega shifted into his fighting stance easily and blocked the swing with one hand, shattering the blade with a single touch. Marcus could tell he was grinning beneath that spherical mask, and vowed to wipe that look of his face. "Now _that_ almost hurt!" the knight announced, dashing forwards at speeds easily equaling that of the Shinigami, forcing Marc onto the defensive. Luckily, a shattered blade meant nothing to Marc, and it was easy to dismiss the weapon and re-summon it in perfect condition.

That required time though. It was just lucky that Marc's real talents had never laid with his Zanjutsu, but rather his Kido. A silent spell to make distance between the two was an effortless action on his part, while Omega could hardly just ignore the spells and required a pause of his own to counter or deflect the attack with his Disruptive powers, effectively giving Marc the time he needed to prepare his next attack.

Back and forth the two combatants went, circling around each other and leaping between offense and defense. It was a fairly standard beginning, and was a pointless action done by both fighters for the sole purpose of judging the ability of the other and seeing just how their own skills equated to the others.

After half a dozen skirmishes, Omega seemed to have found what he wanted and had changed his tactics. In this final battle, it was time for him to stop pulling his punches, and now was the time to show just how bullshit he could be.

" **Disrupt,** " Omega announced, for it was a command, and his sole weapon. Suddenly he was rocketing forwards at speeds far greater than anything he had ever shown the Shinigami.

Marc was ready though, and was already moving to dodge.

It would have been a pointless endeavour on his part to try to block or rival the coming attack. Marc had realised long ago that since Omega's power operated on being able to Disrupt anything and everything, including concepts and even the metaphysical, that he would never be able to directly rival the sheer effect the murderer could have.

When Omega Disrupted the air around him, making air resistance ignore him to bolster his own speed, then it would take way more effort on Marc's part to try and rival such stupidly quick speed.

When Omega Disrupted any defenses you put up, making them as effective as wet toilet paper, then it would be stupid to try and block him.

When Omega did both at once, the only option was to preemptively _dodge_.

" _Either way, I've been preparing for this day for years."_ Marc thought darkly as he moved. He could just see the fist shooting towards his face, and was able to throw himself to the side just enough that it missed him by centimeters.

" _Offense fails, as he Disrupts any ranged attacks and just uses close combat as an excuse to get close enough to touch you- the worst possible outcome. Defense is futile, as he can Disrupt any physical or supernatural shield. So the only option is…"_

"To counter!" Marc roared, coating his fist in fire and slamming it into the murderers side. As soon as the flames touched the armour, its power receded. However, Marc wasn't using just any fire. He was using the flames of Hadō No 54 Haien, reinforced and powered up, forced into a denser, smaller form, and specifically modified to explode outwards on contact.

Dousing a fire will put it out, but a bucket of water on an inferno can only do so much.

The calibre of the attack was still enough to send Omega flying. The knight skidded several meters, and the patch where the Kido had struck was steaming.

"So you mastered it." Noted Omega, brushing himself down.

The Shinigami merely smirked, not needing to say a thing. The Kido he had modified in his Academy days and used to help kill a Menos Grande had been perfected and streamlined in the years since, and now Marc could happily say that he'd mastered it.

"Cast silently and in the space of a second, and even with the power lost due to doing so it almost pierced my defenses. Kids these days are scary!" Omega said melodramatically, the back of his hand poised against his forehead. "But… not scary enough!"

The scale of the battle was nothing like the first bout, and Marc felt the strain. Omega had only gotten faster and harder, and he was finding it hard to keep up. It was time to go to the next level.

"Rekindle, Gankona Hoski." **(Stubborn Star)**

"Shikai will not be enough," warned the renegade.

"I'm aware." Marc agreed, settling into his stance with his new sword. It was a western style sword, and was shorter than his sealed blade- perhaps only 20 inches. Its colour was no longer a pale grey, but a brighter silver, while the edge of the blade was now a sapphire colour. The hilt had remained roughly the same, but had its colours inverted to be navy with black criss-crossing across it.

"Nagareboshi No Taiho," **(Shooting Star Cannon)** he announced, calling out his attack. He thrust the blade forwards, and from its edge bright yellow Reiryoku erupted, shaped itself, and was fired. It was a thick blast of energy, which travelled fast and hit harder.

Omega slipped into a position to block it, placing one foot firmly in front of the other and readying his hands as if to catch a ball.

Marc smirked and used to Shunpo to instead outright run faster than his attack, bringing him into position to perform his proper attack while Omega was busy blocking.

" _He has two main weaknesses. One, he's open to attacks and counters when attacking. Two, when defending he_ can _be overwhelmed, and is less able to see or react to what the enemy does when he's stationary."_

So while the cannon was the false attack, so too was it the false ability.

"Hado No 91: Zangerin No Hoshi," **(Cutting Flower Star Ring)**.

Large amounts of energy built up in Marc's Zanpakuto, far greater than the Kido spell had ever been designed to amass, then with a single slash up close he unleashed a curved blade of azure energy from his swing with the cutting power to carve through even diamond.

He'd checked.

Omega's head tilted just the slightest to the left, as he recognised what Marc was doing. The cannon struck the waiting knight, and was dispersed by his palms, while the Kido struck his side.

Marc panted in exherstion as he Shunpoed away, aware that his spell wouldn't be nearly enough to put the Bloody Knight down for good.

" **Disrupt,** " The killer announced, then for a moment everything stopped- like reality itself was taking a moment to process what was happening. A ripple of power spread out from where Omega was stood, creating a massive boundary around himself of which Marc was caught in. " **Motion.** "

As he suggested, anything and everything that was considered to be in 'motion' had its motion disturbed, and its velocity halted.

In that second though, Omega was completely unaffected. _"Or perhaps he Disrupted the effects of his Disruption upon himself… Disruptionception."_ thought Marcus without humour even as Omega shot towards him while he was defenceless.

Then the boundary faded, the proper order of the world reasserted itself, and Marc's high speed travel returned to what it was.

The moment of stillness was enough though, as it had given Omega the chance to get close enough. By the time Marc was rushing off again, the bronze knight was almost close enough to touch.

" _Ten inches… while Omega prefers direct contact, he can still do most of his more deadly stuff at ten inches or so for a higher cost… only beyond that am I safe. Technically he can Disrupt things at a range, but it's so costly that it's honestly not worth it, and so will only use low effort Disruptions there."_

Marcus was within ten inches.

The high speed sprint turned into a high speed trip, as all electrical signals running through the body were affected.

"Oooof!" Marc really felt it when he struck the ground face first and skidded, before crashing into a wall.

"High speed tripping is a baaaaddd idea…" Omega chastised, as he walked casually forwards. The only sight to show that he was straining himself was the occasional pause between words as he regained his breath. "Shoulda learnt that at the Academy."

The Shinigami pulled himself to his feet, and ignored the pain and blood now rolling down his face. Marc might have been mostly human, but years spent in the Soul Society and as a Shinigami had both literally and figuratively toughened him up. As his Shikai suggested, he was a Stubborn Star, and wouldn't let anything stop him from burning the one that had extinguished so much that was close to him.

"Still, that _was_ a good effort." Omega applauded, "You almost got me then. You channeled a medium strength energy blast to focus _where_ I'd be Disrupting, then hit me hard when I'd be able to put less attention to Disrupt the _real_ attack."

He nodded carefully, taking the moment to catch his breath. He tried not to show it, but he was upset at how little damage he'd done, even with preparation. Marcus was sure that Omega had been unaware of him adding Hadō No 78: Zangerin to his arsenal, and was doubly sure that the upgraded version he'd made and reinforced further with his Zanpakutō ability would have at least made him bleed.

"You scarred my armour though, and I think I can actually see a bit of skin there." Omega marveled, prodding the area in question where the thin trench existed in his otherwise perfect defense. "Much better than when we first met. You're learning… remembering."

"I didn't learn that to get your approval." Grunted Marc, raising his blade and twisting his body to begin preparing his next attack. "I did it to kill you, so just stop _complimenting my murder attempts_ and DIE already!"

Marc would be unable to escalate the conflict though, as when he prepared to attack something quite unusual happened.

The world itself seemed to _blink_.

No. It _twisted_ and _broke_. From a single point the oddity emerged, and then expanded faster than the speed of light until it expanded to its maximum radius.

Marc didn't even have the time to wonder what the hell was happening, and even Omega didn't have time to react or Disrupt what was happening before whatever _was_ happening did _whatever the hell_ it was supposed to do.

One moment Marcus and Omega were stood in a battle to the death, taking advantage of a lapse in hostility to recover, and then the next they were gone along with a much of the floor and air they were standing in.

With a POP the air rushed in to fill the spherical gap where Reshi matter had once been, leaving the area vacant of anything.

No people, particle or structure remained from before the Event.

It was undeniable.

Marcus D Solus- once Marcus Drake- the Ryoka Shinigami, was gone.

So too was Omega the Bloody Knight.

Gone from the area. Gone from that moment. Gone from that _world_.

There was no telling if they'd ever return.

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Minato I**

The day could, at best, be classified as nice. There were no singing birds, few clouds and the heat of the sun beat down in all its stellar glory. Not exactly brilliant by fairy tail standards, but fairly reasonable nonetheless. Not exactly the type of day one would expect anything interesting to happen on.

Minato sat in the corner of small cafe, reading the daily paper. Across from him sat a blonde woman, wearing a white sundress and casually drinking a cup of tea.

"Anything interesting?"

Shifting his eye toward his soul mate, he slowly folded up the newspaper, "Nothing terribly interesting. The market keeps rising far too quickly...it's making me nervous. Should probably pull out soon. You remember what happened last time."

After resting her cup on the plate, she idly examined her expertly painted nails, "Yes, I do indeed. That was what? Seventy-eight years ago? Wow, really? Seems like the second world war was just last week. We got lucky. I don't think I could have gone without for so long."

Minato snorted in amusement, "You went without for centuries. A decade would hardly have hurt, Ren. Though I do agree, seventy-eight years has gone by in a flash."

Renzokutai **(Continuum)** , his zanpakutō manifested in physical form through a constant application of his power, gave her companion the long-suffering look that all spouses perfect, "It's been so long, you know. Since you've used my name outside of a battle, and even then, there are few that require my strength."

He raised an eyebrow, "Does it bother you? I can if you'd like. I thought you preferred this."

"Don't lie to me. You'd do it for a week, then back to business as usual. That's one thing I'm glad I didn't pick up from you."

Quickly counting out the proper change for two blueberry muffins, fresh out of the oven, Minato walked over to the counter and hands it off the cashier. After receiving his food, he lightly took her hand and guides her out. Meandering their way over towards the local park, they sat down on one of the benches overlooking the river.

"It's always so peaceful here."

Renzokutai leant head against Minato's shoulder, as he shifted to accommodate her enormous sun hat now pressed rather uncomfortably against his neck, while she murmured, "It is. That's why we always come here, even though it makes me feel so old."

Wrapping an arm around her waist, he laughed for a moment before quipping, "Ren, we are old. Older than anyone else here. Considering that we've been kicking since the Sengoku Period."

"That long, huh?"

He gave her a nod, mostly content with life, "Yeah… ."

They leant back on the bench, simultaneously closing their eye(s), taking in the mildly salty air and the cool breeze which provided respite from the harsh sun. If anyone were to say anything, they didn't much care.

But of course, the peace couldn't last.

"Hey! This is my bench! You geezers are gonna have to clear out!"

Minato just sighed while Renzokutai gracefully moved to sit up, intentionally making a motion of clearing her ears, "Dear, did you hear a fly? I think I may have and I'd like to know I'm not just hearing things."

They both looked at the disturbance. Late teens, lots of muscles, little hair and a letterman jacket. Basically a walking, talking cliché. Besides him is lanky dark-haired girl of similar age, looking quite appalled at her apparent boyfriend's actions.

"I-it's okay, w-we can find some-somewhere else."

They say opposites attract, and it's proved as once again the guy opens his mouth, "No it's not okay! These geezers took our bench! How can you just accept that?"

Minato rolled his eye at them, "Did no one teach to respect your elders, boy?"

The teen raised a clenched fist, "Get out, or I'll make you."

Minato rose to his feet while pulling Renzokutai up with him, "This isn't worth a fight, let's go."

As they walked down the path parallel to the river, he offhandedly remarks, "Kids these days. Why if he was my son-"

She cut him off with a glare, "If he was your son, he'd be in prison for the next twenty thousand years for attempting and almost succeeding with a coup d'état. Don't forget so easily exactly what you've done."

"We both know that I did what I thought was best given the circumstances."

Frowning, she placed her hands on her hips and leant forward, "Perhaps, but it doesn't change the fact that you knew, and did nothing to help. You didn't even try to make things better for everyone. It wasn't right, but it was the safest option."

"And yet? Everything worked out well enough in the end. Trying to go against fate can be a dangerous thing."

Minato reached down and deftly plucked two Virginia Iris' from right near the water's edge, tucking them in the ribbon on her sun hat. She smiled and moved closer, but the moment was interrupted by a roar.

Her face contorted into a visage of towering rage at the unintentional interloper, "That stupid beast! A reaper better take care of it soon, or I'll do it myself!"

A cloaked black figure flew past them, broadsword in hand. A single strike from the heavy blade split the mask in half. The figure watched the hollow dissipate into reishi for a moment before turning and moving on, presumably to the next target.

As the couple made their way home, Renzokutai inquires with a dangerous edge, "Dear, you haven't forgotten what today is, have you?"

Minato raised an eyebrow at the sudden interjection, "Should I have?"

"Not if you don't want to sleep on the couch."

Opening the door, Renzokutai walked in first, followed by Minato. Locking the door behind them, they made their way into the kitchen. Upon the center island is blue vase of blood red roses, with a card propped against it.

"Oh! You remembered!"

Minato just deadpanned, "Have I ever forgotten before? Someone almost killing me is not an event to forget. Of course I remembered our anniversary."

Suddenly, an obnoxious buzzing sound resonated from Minato's pocket. Reaching in, he pulled out his smart phone, "Sorry dear, work."

She walked towards the living room, lamenting the now inevitable ruination of the day, "I know, time waits for none. But couldn't it wait till tomorrow?"

Minato walked to his home office, angrily trying to argue his point, "Yes, I know it keeps rising! ...No, I think we should pull out. This is unnatural. ...I told you those loans were risky, didn't I? ...Yes, I'm familiar with high risk, high reward! But have you ever known the term too much risk? ...Fine, this is on your head then. You can explain to the boss when this all collapses!"

Switching out his khaki jacket for a more traditional black one, Minato grabbed his stuff and starts to head out when Renzokutai grabbed his hand, "Sorry dear, I have to go explain to my dear co-workers just why sub-prime mortgages are a bad idea. I'll undoubtedly fail, but I can say I tried. And it gives me plausible deniability when I pull out of the market right before it crashes."

"It'll get boring here, take me with you."

He rolled his eye at her, "You always say that. Don't you have friends you could visit?"

Renzokutai mimed parentheses with her fingers, "Friends. The local housewives are so...boring. All they want to do is gossip about their husband's promotion, their children, or worst of all, whichever of them didn't show up that day. It's horrible!"

Minato snorted before exasperatedly adding, "Hurry up then, I don't have all day. You can complain on the way there."

Renzokutai acted hurt, "You know you can't rush perfection."

"Exactly."

Her eyes gained a warning glint, "I'm sorry, what did you just say?"

He sighed, "Certainly not whatever you think. But time is of the essence here."

That was the point everything went downhill. The ground started shaking, which was quite unusual in area that hadn't been on the edge of a tectonic plate in millions of years. Not to say it didn't happen, but it was extremely rare comparatively.

But that certainly wasn't the most interesting part. At that moment, the very fabric of an already stressed reality temporarily tore apart.

"Ren."

She nodded as her physical body shattered into particles of light before dissipating, returning to her original spot, the entire section of the power used to maintain her corporeal form returning to its owner in a blaze of dull silver energy which somewhat resembled the consistency and appearance of fire.

Then the world itself seemed to _blink_.

No. It _twisted_ and _broke_. From a single point the oddity emerged, and then expanded faster than the speed of light until it expanded to its maximum radius.

Minato didn't even have the time to wonder what the hell was happening, nor have time to react to what was happening before whatever _was_ happening did _whatever the hell_ it was supposed to do.

One moment Minato was enjoying a nice, if tiresome day, then things went to hell.

With a POP the air rushed in to fill the spherical gap where Reshi and matter had once been, leaving the area vacant of anything.

No people, particle or structure remained from before the Event.

It was undeniable.

Minato Tatsushiro -former Captain of the Tenth Squadron-, was gone.

Gone from the area. Gone from that moment. Gone from that _world_.

There was no telling if he'd ever return.


	2. Ichigo I

**DV: Well, another chapter. Our current projection is about one a week for the summer till we both go back to school. Sorry it's not more, but we can usually only coordinate a writing session 1-2 times a week given time zone differences.**

 **US- so on the one hand, you get semi-frequent chapters for a change (A vast difference to my usual work), but on the other hand the chapters are smaller. Count your blessings, eh?**

 **Disclaimer: the two of us** _ **still**_ **don't own anything of Bleach. The massive roster of characters, the improbable power ups and all the rest. Thank god the recent manga plot twists belong to Kubo, and not us. We have enough stupid plot threads of our own, thank you very much.**

* * *

 **Ichigo I**

Ichigo hadn't thought his day could get worse. It began badly, it continued to be bad, and it was still bad. The second death battle with Renji only further decreased the worth of the day. So when someone appeared out of nowhere to elbow him in the face, he really shouldn't have been surprised.

"What the hell! Who just elbows someone with no warning?" Ichigo yelled, spinning on his foot to _kindly_ inform the person of how obnoxious they are to interrupt his fight. He hadn't been there a second ago, and it annoyed Ichigo to no ends that the first thing he had done was to accidentally elbow him.

But before the orange haired Shinigami could get a response, a second figure interrupted the fight. This time he saw their appearance in great detail. For a second the world rippled and ruptured, then deposited a new person.

While the first seemed to be some kind of bronze knight, the second looked more like a tax man.

"Well, how terribly inconvenient. I don't suppose this could have been avoided?" the man said nonchalantly, brushing down his suit while giving the sky a questioning look.

"What?" said the knight. Looking around in confusion. Ichigo only now noticed the large cut running along the armour, and the body language he was showing. Hostile and unstable, as if he'd just been running a marathon or had just come out of a battle. "What's going on? Where am I?"

Then as if the world was operating on the principle of 'rule of three', the sky opened up a third time, and regurgitated another individual.

His landing was less steady, having been dropped from a higher point, so the man in the typical attire of a Shinigami landed on Renji, causing them both to fall to the ground.

"God damn it! Where the hell are all these people coming from!?" demanded the Lieutenant angrily from beneath the Shinigami. With a showing of superior strength he shoved the confused man off him and staggered to his feet, glaring arrows at everybody.

Ichigo was sure that if Renji could produce real arrows with the same intensity, he'd have died long ago.

"Renji?" Asked the Shinigami. "What are you- you're not supposed to be here! I was just-" then his eyes narrowed, as if he had suddenly recalled something. His eyes flickered across the area and landed on the form of the knight, who was now looking intently at him.

The tax man gave a wide smile, clearly false, motioning with his hands in the universal gesture for peace, "Now, now, we're all adults here," turning to look at Ichigo, and looking at him oddly for a moment, he corrects, "Almost adults here. We don't need to settle this like barbarians."

"Indeed, Marcus! We should sit down and discuss things like gentlemen!" the knight exclaimed, clasping his hands together happily. "We're all friends here, right?"

Marcus, as Ichigo now knew he was called, looked like he'd rather vomit. Rather than charging across the space to try and stab the knight, as Ichigo thought he was about to do, he instead limited himself to merely getting back to his feet and wearily looking round again.

"Renji, explain what you're doing here rather than in Hueco Mundo." he demanded.

Before Renji could get a word in edgewise, a subtle pressure washed over the immediate area. Worried about a new threat interrupting his fight again, Ichigo resorted to his only actually working method of sensing: spirit ribbons.

The ribbons conjugate around him, almost all red. Fitting, given this is the world of shinigami. But when he found the correct red ribbon, it was tinged with silver and black. Tracing it back to its origin, he found it to be emanating from...the tax man? So much power. Ichigo had never felt so insignificant before. But regardless, if this was a new enemy, he couldn't afford to lose, no matter what.

But what was he doing? It didn't look like he was trying anything aggressive, so Ichigo let it slide for the minute.

"Hueco Mundo? Why the hell would I ever go somewhere like that? It's been centuries since Shinigami set foot there. Who the hell are you to demand things from me anyway?" Renji threatened, brandishing his Zanpakuto.

"Because he _isn't_ Renji." stated the knight with absolute confidence. He took a step forwards, to further scrutinise the redhead. "Yup. Just look. He's _a_ Renji, but not _our's_. He's a different brand altogether. Just look around. Where do you think we are?"

"The Seireitei." Identified Marcus.

"And we aren't supposed to be here, are we? Look around, Ichigo and Renji, in the Seireitei, apparently in the middle of a fight. Sound familiar?" the knight teased.

Marcus' eyes seemed to widen in realisation, or at least in partial understanding.

"Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on, or am I gonna have to beat you all up?" asked Ichigo brazenly. This tax man looked tough, but he would fight every Captain in the Seireitei to rescue Rukia. Even this new man. He looked reasonable enough though, with a look on his face kinda like Mr. Hat and Clogs. If anyone knew what was happening, he did.

"Maa, maa, what a resolute look on your face, Ichigo-kun. You won't have to fight me," the tax man assured, turning to look at the other two people who appeared, "You guys on the other hand. You're both unknowns."

"I'm not supposed to exist, apparently." Marcus scoffed, perhaps a bit bitterly. "And I should be just as worried about who the hell you're supposed to be, and what role you have in all of… in all of… _this_." he summed up, gesturing wildly around him as if it could explain every little messed up thing about the situation.

After straightening out his tie, the tax man continued, "Minato Tatsushiro. Now, this is the year 2001, am I correct?"

Ichigo and Renji nodded back hesitantly, clearly confused. What did the year have to do with anything?

"Now, since time travel is...not really intentionally workable, I can only assume the multi-verse theory. Ichigo-kun, does the name Natsumi mean anything to you?"

Ichigo shrugged, trying to recall if he knew anyone of the name, but drew up a blank, "No. Should it?"

The tax man, Minato apparently, cursed under his breath, "I didn't think it would. This is...problematic."

"Problematic," mocked the knight, with a distorted voice. "I don't really care what you have to say, as if anything, I should be the one finding things _problematic._ My dramatic showdown, my Master Plan… ruined!" he concluded melodramatically.

Minato cocked an eye, challenging, "Watch your tone, _boy_."

The spiritual pressure rolled off him like an endless abyss, vast and nearly incomprehensible without an end in sight, and Ichigo almost staggered at the weight of it. Renji was barely standing, Marcus forgot to breathe for a second, and even the knight had taken a step back at the sudden release.

This salary man…there was more to him than what he appeared to be.

"Ah." the knight said, as if wincing, though with his face hidden Ichigo couldn't be sure. Despite the fact that he couldn't allow himself to lose, Ichigo was still glad he didn't have to fight this guy. This presence he was feeling… it was like he was standing in front of Byakuya again.

"Well, you're a scary one too, aren't ya?" he scratched his metal chin, as if deep in thought. "Still…I'm defiant, not stupid. That level…the experienced way you hold yourself…I don't much feel like fighting you right now."

Marcus sneered, "Gonna run away again, coward, like you normally do?"

"I prefer to think of myself as that one stupid bad guy who shows up and menaces the hero, then repeatedly lets him escape and survive to grow stronger just so that he gets to stomp him at full power later. Jokes aside, I wasn't kidding about how troublesome sticking around here would be." he nodded his head solemnly, finally coming to a decision, "Right, well I'm out of here. It's been fun, but someone's gone and made a mess of things for me, so I'm a gonna go try and look for them, and then punch them in their stupid, plan ruining face. Until then, take care of yourself, Marcus."

"Go die in a fire, Omega." Marcus deadpanned. "I'm not letting you leave."

"Like you can stop me." the knight challenged. "You got any problems with me taking a breather either, mister Minato?"

"I don't believe so. If I want to find you, I'm sure it wouldn't take long." the businessman waved him away like a teacher excusing a naughty student from a detention.

"True." Omega nodded. "Right then, time for the usual spiel. Marcus- get stronger, plot your revenge, I will return, final showdown, and all that. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I'll be back to finish this eventually and get us back on track with where we're _supposed to be_. Until then, _remember my name_. Remember, and etch your experiences into your very being. I am Omega, your end, and this _isn't_ over. Not quite yet."

"Stop!" Marcus yelled, sprinting forwards so fast that Ichigo could barely follow his movements.

However, Omega was faster still. He stomped on the ground, and the world rippled. "Disrupt- space."

Then he was gone, as he'd never been there to begin with. Marcus' sword struck only empty air.

"God damn it!" Marcus cursed, scowling at the spot where Omega had been. "Again! He always does that!"

"Well, that was interesting." Minato mused, watching the space that Omega had once occupied with a clinical detachment only those seasoned in the ways of science could accomplish, "A spatial distortion technique? Those aren't terribly rare, but with so little set up before hand...I wonder how he-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt, _but what the hell is going on here!_ " Renji interrupted, really not sorry in the slightest. "First, you three appeared out of nowhere and interfered in my fight, then you started talking about all that multi-verse crap and now one of you has just teleported! Damn it, I don't know what's going on, but I will _not_ be ignored! I'm the Lieutenant of the Sixth Squad! Has everyone just forgotten that I was here or something?"

Ichigo didn't want to say anything, but the almost melodramatic confrontation between Marcus and the knight actually had caused Ichigo to temporarily forget why he was there while he watched the conflict between the two- the tension had been almost palpable.

Ever since Omega had first shown up and elbowed him in the face, and had been followed by those other two, his fight with Renji had kinda been forgotten.

"Yeah! Who the hell are you people anyway, and what're you doing here!? Are you here to stop me from saving Rukia, or something!?"

"Idiot! _I'll_ be the one to save her! You just put her in trouble to begin with!"

A quick cough from Minato caught their attention, "Boys, does it really matter? You both contributed to her capture, directly or not, and you should both help in her escape if you feel so strongly about this."

Now Ichigo might be a hot-head, but he's hardly stupid. In a more sensible level, he knew that Minato was right, that if they had Renji's help, this would go much smoother. But with all the adrenaline in his system, he couldn't really think beyond immediate goals. The current of which was defeating Renji. Mostly so he wouldn't continue to impede his path to Rukia, but a small part of him wanted payback for the grievous wound Renji inflicted the first time they met.

In a clash of flying sparks and ringing steel, Ichigo resumed his fight with Renji, all the while Minato muttering, "Boys these days. Just can't back down."

"WHICH WAY DID YOU SAY, YACHIRU?"

"THAT WAY, KENNY! THERE'S STRONG PEOPLE THAT WAY!"

Everyone paused at the sound. Ichigo quickly looked around see what he can glance from the others, as hopefully they know something about this. Renji was slowly backing away, clearly worried. Marcus didn't share his worry, but instead sighed, as if resigned to whatever was happening. Minato drew a nodachi out of...somewhere, and placed himself between the oncoming sound and Ichigo, sword resting on his shoulder.

"Am I really this unlucky?" Marcus asked aloud, manifesting his own Zanpakutō and taking a step forwards, "Actually, stupid question, Yes. Yes I _am_ this unlucky."

And then the wall exploded, and everything went to hell again.

Ichigo should have really gotten used to strange people interfering in his battles, as the newcomers were just as odd as the older ones. A tall man in a haori, with spiked black hair and a menacing eye patch. He radiated bloodlust like a radiator gives off heat. The other was a pink bundle of sugar whose only reason for being there was to juxtapose everything of what her companion was like.

"SEE! SEE KENNY!" She shouted happily. "I told you I wasn't lost! See, I said that if we took that left turn two hours ago we'd find someone tough!"

"Heh. Guess you were right." The man said gruffly. "I can feel 'em. There are some strong enemies here."

"Captain Kenpachi, Lieutenant Kusajishi? What are you doing here?" Asked Renji.

The Captain gave a bloodthirsty grin, "I told ya. I heard that those Ryoka were somewhere around here, but I got lost trying to find 'em. And now that I'm here, I think I'll see if any of them can give me a good fight!"

Marcus sighed irritably at Minato, "Please tell me you don't enjoy fighting bloody fights to the death, or I think that I'll literally be the only non battle maniac in this group what with Ichigo, Renji and Kenpachi here together."

"No, fighting is merely a tool. A means to an end," He replied, "Though, it could be worse. Ikkaku could have shown up."

"Oh god! Don't say anything more! With my E Rank luck he'll definitely show up too!"

"Look, is someone gonna fight me, or am I gonna have to start stabbing people until I get some!?"

Minato looked over at Marcus, "Tag team?"

Marcus sighed again, but nodded. Ichigo could tell that the Shinigami was resigned but willing, "Sure, why the hell not? I've failed to kill my nemesis, so I might as well get beaten bloody by the Kenpachi. So let's do this. Tag Team."

"Two on one, huh? You two look pretty tough, so who knows? You might actually GIVE ME A _CHALLENGE_!" Power flooded the area, strong and thick and heavy and sharpy. Like a razor edge was being drawn, and carved into Ichigo's very being.

This Kenpachi…this feeling…it was terrifying. If this was a Captain class fighter going all out, then he was going to have to get tough quick.

Before Ichigo could realise something had moved, Minato was on Kenpachi's side with a double handed horizontal blow. Kenpachi- fast enough to put a hasty block, but not stop it dead with his monstrous strength, especially such an unexpected blow, was sent skidding back a few feet.

Eventually, a stalemate commenced, as both men fought to overpower the other.

Marcus was far from idle while this was happening. While admittedly slower in comparison to Minato, he was still at a level beyond Ichigo, and was already in motion when the first strike was made. He followed after Minato, disappearing in a burst of speed before striking Kenpachi's side with one first. "Hado No 64: Tsuyoi Tenran." **(Mighty Orchid Sky)**. The fist seemed to twist slightly, then a concentrated gale of compact wind erupted from it. Clearly it wasn't meant to blow or cut, but rather use the massive force of the wind for other purposes. Namely, blast the Captain off in the direction of the punch. Despite his massive size, Kenpachi was still thrown dozens of meters by the attack, and was blown clean through a wall and into another street.

"Ouch." Deadpanned Marcus, shaking his wrist slightly at the pain. "That hurt like a bitch, but at least we can take this elsewhere. Well, Minato? After you."

Minato gave a look of exasperation before disappearing after the Captain.

"Charming," Marcus grumbled, following after at a much more sedate pace in comparison. Then he was gone, and it was just Ichigo and Renji.

"All for ignoring that entire _thing_ just happened and just carrying on our fight from before they showed up?" Renji suggested.

"Aye!" Ichigo agreed, raising Zangetsu back into a ready position. He had no real idea of what the hell had just happened, but it wasn't important. The only thing he had to focus on was beating Renji, and then rescuing Rukia.


	3. Kenpachi I

**DV: Here's the next chapter. It's mostly pointless filler shonen fighting, but hey, that's** _ **Bleach**_ **, ne?**

 **US- I can at least say that this gives a good chance to show off how our Self Inserts fight and differ. The main leads are one of the main driving points of this fic, so naturally we'll be showing off their powers, history and personalities over the course of this thing- so even if you haven't read the originals, it doesn't matter. So enjoy, and feel free to leave a Review afterwards on what you like, and what sort of things you'd like to see the duo get up to in due time.**

 **Disclaimer: We still own nothing, save our OC's. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo, and unlike anything we've ever worked on, is** _ **actually about to end**_ **. Scary, huh?**

* * *

 **Kenpachi I**

Kenpachi was having the most fun he'd had in ages. Fighting not just one, but two strong opponents. Neither of whom showed any signs of breaking under his immense reiryoku. So few could _survive_ him -yet alone fight him- these days.

Landing on his feet, because the title of captain wasn't given out like a party favor, Kenpachi flexed out his shoulders to once again look at his opponents.

Minato drew out a tanto, holding it upside down in his left hand, "Do you want to draw this out, Marcus? Or just go Shikai now?"

"It's _Kenpachi_." Kenpachi could hear the emphasis as the younger male reappeared next to the stronger one. "You hit him hard and fast, then keep hitting him. Really, _really_ hard. Your choice really, but I'll be using it."

"Really hard huh? That last punch actually hurt, so I'm looking forwards to this! But it's no fun if I just stand back and let you hit me! No, I think it's time for me to _attack_."

And so in a blast of energy, Kenpachi was upon them, chipped nodachi swung wildly, defense barely an afterthought. A flurry of blows erupted between the three combatants, Kenpachi solely attacking, Minato solely defending against the seemingly random attacks, and Marcus trying to dodge what he could.

The Captain could tell that the weaker one, Marcus, was the physically weakest in the group, so had to rely on not getting hit altogether. He tended to use his companion as a buffer for the majority of attacks, only chipping in now and again to deflect or parry attacks.

Kenpachi smirked, and increased his own speed and strength. There was a noticeable shift in the battle as the duo were pushed onto the defensive. They were ill suited to working as a team, and were second judging their own actions to prevent friendly fire.

If there was one thing he hated, it was people holding back in a fight, for _any_ reason. So he'd just have to keep hitting them until they gave it their all.

"Stop saying you'll hit me, and _hit me already!_ " Kenpachi snarled, unleashing his strongest blow yet. The overhead strike slammed into Minato's waiting blade, and he buckled under the weight of it as the floor around him began to crack.

As expected, while Minato was blocking the blade, Marcus was capitalising on the opportunity, and had Shunpoed behind the Captain.

He easily saw that level of motion, and could tell that it would be effortless on his part to predict where he would be going, and strike him unexpectedly.

But where would the fun in that be?

Marcus appeared behind him, then prepared to unleash a horizontal strike at his back. To his perceptive eye, the blade had already changed _"A silent Shikai release, huh?"_

"Hoshikuzu Surrashu, **(Stardust Slash)** " then bright azure energy was flooding along the edge of the weapon, coating it in energy, before the weapon was swung at his neck.

Rather than striking neck, the warm steel met his willing hand, which caught the blade. He could feel the attack pierce flesh and draw blood, and had he not coated his body in his massive reiryoku it would have likely cleaved straight through.

Then, using his massive strength, he leveraged the blade, pulling it from the Shinigami's grasp and swinging the hilt of it towards Minato. He was more than ready, and disengaged before the Zanpakutō got anywhere near him.

It wasn't necessary though, as the blade had begun to fade away from the moment it left Marc's hands.

"Don't wanna let anyone else wield your sword? I can appreciate that!" with Minato disengaged, he was now free to direct his attention towards the younger. He realised it too, as he only just had time to resummon his blade and block the horizontal cut meant to sever head from body.

To say it was blocked was inaccurate- it was _resisted_. Marc lacked physical abilities to match Kenpachi, and while he might have prevented the sword decapitating him, he was fighting a losing battle. Inch by inch Kenpachi was gaining ground, coming closer and closer to bringing sharp metal to flesh.

Which was when the older one had to be a freakin' buzz kill and start throwing Kido spells out everywhere.

While Kenpachi was able to shrug off the spells and parry those he couldn't, it had been enough of a distraction to let Marc retreat. He now stood behind Minato, and was glowering silently at the Captain.

"Minato, can you take point?" Asked Marc. "I'm squishy, and blocking that hit almost broke all the bones in both my hands. I'm in excruciating pain right now, and I'm already exhausted to begin with from my showdown with Omega and all the rest of the crap I was up to before I confronted him."

"If I must." Minato shrugged, taking a confident step forwards. "While I prefer to take a less direct role in combat, it _is_ within my capabilities. I can compensate for your weakness and inability."

"... that sounds kinda offensive." Marc noted dryly. "Offensive, but true. But give me a break! It's been a reeeaaallly long day."

"Where were you in the plot?"

"Just finished Fake Karakura, though I did a lot of fighting before in Hueco Mundo. Let's just say that the Quatro Espada is fucking bullshit and leave it at that."

Minato almost winced at that, "Yes. If you were fighting someone like him earlier today, I think it is excusable."

Impatient, Kenpachi allowed his reiatsu to explode, "Are ya gonna stop talking like a bunch of pansies, or am I going to have to make you!?"

"Very well." Minato stated, "Renzokutai."

Kenpachi had seen many zanpakutō in his career, but this had to one of the strangest. Because nothing happened besides a reiatsu release. Now, there were some zanpakuto similar to that, but they had at least some visible change, even if it wasn't obvious to someone not as skilled as him.

As Minato returned the nodachi to wherever it was, he turned to Kenpachi, "I forgot how good this feels. To cut loose a bit. Marc, stand back, don't want you getting caught up in my attacks."

" _Maybe he'll finally starting fighting seriously now?"_ With a bloodthirsty yell, Kenpachi rushed forward, blade raised for an overhead slash, only to find himself entangled in a mass of black ribbons that used to be Minato's arms.

In the corner of his eye, Kenpachi saw Marc's confused look and his exclamation, "What is-? You know what, I don't even want to know."

The ribbons slowly slithered their way around Kenpachi's body, progressively tightening and strangling him as they surged upwards.

"The hell is this shit? Fight me properly damn it!"

Struggling against the ribbons, and ultimately winning in freeing an arm, he reached up and ripped off his eye-patch. A veritable tsunami of golden reiatsu buffeted the area, flattening some of the nearby buildings and freeing him from his current predicament

"You just had to make him mad," Marc deadpanned.

"I'm sorry, who tagged out who?" Minato replied, un-amused, while using the ribbons as whips to keep range between combatants.

Did these two ever stop? Kenpachi just wanted to fight, all this banter was really getting on his nerves.

Slashing away the surprisingly fragile ribbons, now that he had some space, Kenpachi had enough smarts to recognize another frontal charge would probably end the same way. This just wasn't too fun anymore. But that Marc guy had enough of a break. Avoiding Minato entirely, who didn't seem terribly keen on attacking, he rocketed towards Marc.

Marc raised his blade in time to avoid a bifurcation, giving Kenpachi a fist of flames to the mouth and a Bakudō or two for his trouble. Meanwhile, the ribbons Minato was giving off increased in both thickness and number, until eventually there were too many to cut. Kenpachi was just about to kick things up a notch when a dozen tendrils clamped down tight onto his leg, then began climbing up him, wrapping him up even as he fought back. Furthermore, Marc refused to let up and sent Bakudō spell after Bakudō spell at him, only reinforcing his bindings further.

Kenpachi reared back without the use of his arms, and snarled. The Kido spells weren't particularly strong, while the ribbons could be broken with time, but they kept adding to one another and were replaced almost as soon as he broke them. He was hard pressed to split his attention between both combatants.

Then Minato reappeared behind Kenpachi, eye slit like a cat's. And that's when Kenpachi realised it. With Marc in front of him, Minato behind him, two walls to his sides, without his arms and his power slowly being sealed, he was trapped. Whether it was planned or not, he'd been had.

"Minato, we can't hold him for long. Either we end this _now_ , or he'll escape and escalate, which'll be a pain in the ass," Marc commented.

"End it how?"

"You know how." Marc said darkly. "I don't much want this outcome, but damnit, this isn't my home. I have no stakes in this. There's only one thing I want…a certain knights severed head, and that opportunity has been and gone."

"There will be repercussions." Minato warned.

"The only repercussions 'll be what I'll do to you when I get outta this!" Kenpachi warned, physically straining to _destroy_ the bindings.

"I know. But do I _really_ look like I care right now?" to Kenpachi, he didn't.

Minato only nodded, coming to a similar conclusion. From what Kenpachi could only assume was his back, a large tentacle emerged, thicker than its owner. It was tipped with an almost copy of Minato's head, only proportionally sized to the tendril, with red cat slit eyes and multiple rows of razor teeth.

Marc looked on in a mixture of horror and confusion, while Minato's new form surged forwards. Kenpachi looked the grotesque thing in the eyes, grinned, and then laughed. There was a final futile struggle from his part, and he even managed to tear apart the majority of his bindings, but he was too late. Hypocritically, Kenpachi- who hated others holding back on him- had gotten too used to restraining himself to fight enemies. He'd put himself in a position of weakness that he could have avoided had he gone all out earlier, and now that he _was_ taking it seriously it was too late.

By the time Kenpachi was almost free, the jaws had already snapped shut with an almighty CRASH. The last thing Kenpachi heard was a sigh, followed by, "I'm sure you'll taste like shit."

Then Kenpachi Zaraki, the Captain of Squad Eleven, the only man in history to reach so high up the Shinigami ranks through his immense combat skills alone, knew nothing more.


	4. Marcus II

**DV: This is a shorter chapter. In fairness, you shouldn't have to wait a whole week for the next chapter, because we're not complete dicks. We plan for it to come this Wednesday. On another note, we got a review last chapter warning of character death. Well...yeah. Of course. Canon is practically a Sugar Bowl for the heroes compared to both our AU's, which of course influences how Minato and Marcus deal with enemies. Our writing sessions are basically D &D **_**Bleach**_ **sessions in which we have no real overarching plan, and the plot direction revolves around where character interaction takes us.**

 **US- And yes, we** _ **did**_ **just kill off Kenpachi last chapter. That's just the way that this story** _ **rolls**_ ***Puts on sunglasses dramatically as something explodes in the background*. As for what is still to come… who knows? Intersection, thy name is Bullshit. This is basically 'lets see just what parts of canon we can screw up and mess with' the fanfic.**

 **Disclaimer: We can't even be bothered to attempt to write something witty here. Suffice to say, had either of us owned Bleach, we wouldn't be wasting our time writing fanfiction for it, and would likely be in a money jacuzzi at this point in time.**

* * *

 **Marcus II**

When Kenpachi Zaraki's head was swallowed whole, the only thing Marcus could think to say was "Holy shit!"

The second thing he said though, was, "What sort of a messed up power is that?"

" _My_ power." replied Minato, wincing slightly as the tentacled creature retreated back into his back. "And I was right, he did taste like shit."

"I'm pretty sure you're just comically missing the point here." Marc sighed loudly but didn't press further, instead dispelling his blade. It had been a long day, filled with fights against Arrancar, the deaths of the only friends he still had, a hell of a lot of inner searching, topped up with an interrupted fight with his nemesis and a spot of interdimensional jumping.

At this point in time Marcus was tired, bruised, bleeding and he was pretty sure that several broken bones had accumulated since the last time a healer checked him, "God, what I wouldn't give for a nice shower right now…"

"Oh, don't be so lax. I'm not Unohana, but I can do basic healing. Sit down before you hurt yourself beyond my ability to heal."

"Might not be the best of ideas." Marc pointed sharply at the tiger in the room nobody had been paying attention to. Marc and Minato hadn't been alone when they fought and ultimately killed Kenpachi. No. Yachiru had been watching the entire thing, and she had just seen her father figure being eaten alive.

"K… Kenny?" The girls normally cheerful attitude was gone, her voice more hesitant, an impossibly wide grin stretched across her face. "You're just playin' dead, right? You can't be dead. You're the strongest. G-get up! C'mon! Kenny! Get up!"

"Perhaps we should leave before she snaps out of it. I'd rather not have Unohana...or Yamamoto coming down on us anytime soon." Minato suggested.

"Shit. Forget about my conscience, let's hightail it out of here before we attract the god damn Dragon!" Marcus had only seen the Captain Commander releasing his Zanpakuto at a distance, and had already been fleeing Fake Karakura Town when it happened. He had no desire to have the full wrath of it falling on his head. While he certainly felt _bad_ for Yachiru, at this point he had so many traumas of his own to deal with that he just couldn't afford to worry about her. "We need to escape somewhere… find somewhere where we can lie low for awhile, and maybe actually get some answers from one another."

Marcus pondered for a second, before a small grin slid onto his features. "Are you thinking where I am?"

Minato raised both eyebrows, "Perhaps. I have yet to analyse your thought patterns."

"You do realise you sound like an android when you rattle off those types of lines, right? But yeah, if your answer was 'hide in the sewers' then yes, we thought the same."

"That was...not quite what I had in mind. However, it is a valid plan."

"Well what's your idea, smart guy?"

"No, no. You're doing splendidly, carry on." Minato announced with a beaming smile.

"...I can't be sure if that was genuine, or if you are legitimately just that patronising." Either way, he'd been given a pass to follow through with his 'hide in the sewers' scheme. At least they had some kind of plan.

Nevertheless, Marcus figured it would be best to save any more chit chat for when they were well away from the homicidal Lieutenant currently in denial.

"Well, let's go then. Don't suppose you could carry me?" It irked Marc to ask, but Minato was faster, and he was exhausted. He didn't think he could handle the journey to find an unattended opening to the extensive labyrinth beneath the surface.

Minato rolled his eyes before a mass of ribbons burst out of back, securing Marc in a bundle, before he took off to find an entrance. They left quickly, leaving only the crying form of a young girl behind them.


	5. Minato II

**DV: We told you this would be out Wednesday, and we don't break our word lightly. But don't expect this to be the norm. You'll only get a Wednesday chapter if the Sunday chapter is 1000 words.**

 **US- And even that isn't certain, as only Kubo knows if we can actually maintain this present pace.**

 **DV: The final final chapter of** _ **Bleach is tomorrow**_ **. That's right...** _ **tomorrow**_ **...I think? Maybe next week if Kubo is a dick. Ouch. First** _ **Harry Potter**_ **, than** _ **Naruto**_ **, now** _ **Bleach**_ **? So many childhood memories ending.**

 **US- Question for you DV? If we're here trying to make some form of amusing anecdotal commentary for this authors note, then who's driving this chapter, and just what plot obstruction is fast approaching on the horizon?**

 **Disclaimer: Insert failed attempt to make a witty disclaimer here. It's just not worth it.**

* * *

 **Minato II**

The Seireitei sewers were, like most sewers, dark and damp. However, these tunnels clearly had more in common with the Paris Catacombs than the more Japanese architecture one might expect it to possess. Minato felt that these parallels were rather odd, as these passageways had likely been built centuries before the Catacombs were even constructed. However, that fact was rather convenient for their current purposes, so they certainly weren't going to complain.

While Minato chose to stand rather formally, clearly cementing himself as the higher authority person in their dynamic, Marcus has embraced his lower status and was slumped against the wall, sitting down, and was watching the nearby waters solemnly.

Minato was all for waiting for Marcus to begin speaking first, preferring to let others act first then counter, but he had a certain feeling that Marcus would be unwilling to speak of his circumstances without an equal amount of information had been given to him first. How troublesome.

As Minato debated what to start with, the ribbons formerly holding Marcus reformed themselves into a facsimile of a throne, upon which he promptly sat upon and decided to finally just begin the conversation they both knew they needed to have, "They say war makes strange bedfellows."

The other Shinigami looked like he was about to protest something, and based on the way his eyes flickered to the elaborate throne he now sat atop, he could tell what. But instead, he threw up his arms, as if giving into the madness, and embraced it for all it was worth. "I suppose you're right. Though this is hardly a war, and it feels like the only reason we're bedfellows to begin with is because we're both literal Outsiders."

A snicker, "Hardly war? Did you forget what this is a prelude to?"

"The Winter War, yes. But is this _our_ war?"

"No, it's not. But isolationist tendencies tend to backfire. I'm not advocating immediate action, however, I suspect that as long as we are here, we will continue to be dragged into at least some events, whether we want to or not."

"Speaking of which, do you think we should just pull the fucking band aid off and just deal with the elephant in the room? Maybe it's time for us to actually talk about all _this_." Marc swung his arm around, gesturing to them sat in a miserable sewer tunnel in a different dimension to the one they had woken up in.

Minato leaned back in his seat, the ribbons mimicking his actions, crossing his legs, "That's true. As far as I can tell, neither of us are Ichigo Kurosaki, who possesses the strange ability to make everyone his friend eventually, so long as they're not his main villain. If we want to be able to coordinate, we should know some things at least. For example, when I came here, it was the year 2007 in my native universe, as opposed to 2001 here. You?"

"In case you didn't pick it up, I was dropped here right at the end of Fake Karakura Town. Aizen and Ichigo were just about to have their 'my power up is bigger than yours' dick off." Marc spat off to one side. "I swear, it pisses me off just how bullshit those two are sometimes."

Minato muttered somewhat inaudible under his breath, "'In case you didn't pick it up…'," before changing to a normal tone, "I heard, but it may have not have been the same year, for example. Little differences like that can pile up. Though from your tone, I must assume it was 2001 as well."

The other male nodded fairly casually. "Yeah, it was 2001. To be honest, it was a fairly typical world. Nothing majorly different to the timeline except for me showing up there and screwing things up." Marcus blinked, then smacked his head. "Of course! Dumb me! It should have literally been the _first_ thing I asked! Ahem… before we continue, perhaps we should check if we're on the same page, as it were. You DO know what I mean when I speak of sink cleaning products, right?"

Minato considered the words, finding them to be cryptic. He felt like they were familiar, but couldn't quite identify how, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Bleach! Does the word evoke anything in particular?"

Again, it felt familiar. But Minato was almost 500 years old. Many things has been forgotten- _important_ things. So Minato shook his head, "How does sodium hypochlorite play into this?"

At last, Marcus sighed, and threw his hands up in the air. "Just fuck it. We're already stuck in another dimension, so telling you and effectively shattering your view of Life As We Know It can't screw things too much. Are you, or are you NOT aware that you're a Self Insert living in a fictional universe? You said stuff earlier that implied as much, but I just want a freakin' yes or no, okay?"

"Fictional it might have been...once. But now it is not, for all intents and purposes. Viewing it as such still is a mark of denial."

"... oh good, you _are_ a Self Insert, and I haven't just forced an existential crisis on you. I tell you, _that_ would have been awkward." He nodded dourly.

Minato pulled out a fan from a pocket and held it in a similar manner to Urahara, continuing, "Are you usually this forward?"

Marc gave the dryest look imaginable. "Look Mister 'I sit on a throne made of bandages, because my ego can't bear to dwell on the floor', I'm tired, miserable, have had to find spiritual enlightenment while fighting a dude capable of making lightning thicker than I am tall, just lost my last friends, failed to kill my nemesis, am stuck in another dimension and _still have a whole tonne of fucking broken bones_. Excuse me if I'm a _teensy_ bit tetchy."

"First off, elegance is a sign of class, not ego."

"Elegance? it's a _freaking_ throne! The only thing more egotistical is a giant sofa!"

Minato continued unhindered, "And second, be grateful. Would you have actually managed to get this far without my help? And if you are capable of movement, come over here so I can begin to heal you. It will take some time. Better start now."

The tattered Ryoka grumbled, but complied. He pulled himself to his feet, walked directly to the side of the throne, _then_ dropped to the floor again. "Soooo then… on a scale of one to ten, with five being almost exactly how canon was, how shitty would you rate your dimension to be then?"

Green light began to emanate and surround Marcus as Minato commented, "That's terribly unspecific."

Marc scratched the back of his head. "True. I meant just how different your world is? If it's a ten on the shitty scale, that would mean the timeline is fucked beyond belief and Aizen won or something, while one would be a Lighter and Happier setting where Aizen was captured by Shinji while Kurotsuchi domesticated Hollows into fluffy, huggable critters or something."

"Ah. Well, the timeline is reasonably similar, lots of small differences, but nothing really major. I saw to that personally. And you? How does your world rate on your 'scale?'"

"Maybe a six or seven." Marc sighed in relief as Minato's hands glowed green and finally began to tackle his ailments in a way that was noticeable. "Nothing apocalyptic, but a few too many things have gone wrong for me to consider it a 'good' verse. Things stuck mostly to canon, but enough wildcards were thrown in to mix things up."

Minato shifted, the throne morphing into a lounge chair, "I see. Well, that Omega character certainly would be problematic. Where was the timeline when you entered?"

"About sixteen years before canon. Not much happened for most of it. I went to school, got bullied for a while, made some True Companions and almost got eaten by Menos. _Then_ I graduated." Marc was almost joking at this point, but his smile was a bit too bitter for his words to be anything but melancholy. "That was about when Omega showed up actually."

"I'm guessing he was one of the main forms of divergence?" Minato queried, curious about the third figure dropped into this world. He could see why Marcus and himself might have been chosen, but what role did the masked man play?

"One of them. He's certainly killed a lot of important people anyway. But he wasn't the main problem."

"'Important people.' People important to you? Or people important to the plot?"

The younger male considered his words carefully. "A bit of both. While he _did_ massacre all of said True Companions, he also got pissed when I tried to recruit a few Captains for one of our face off's so he promised to kill the next five canon characters he encountered."

Minato frowned, "Well, I was about to suggest that your universe didn't want a deviation from canon, and was enforcing it through him, but if he was willing to kill canon characters...that suggests either a level of carelessness or insanity. Unless he's not involved with that at all. Hmm…"

"Odd deduction to make." Commented Marcus, with a single skeptical eyebrow raised. "Nah- I have no clue what that bastards deal is. The universe certainly didn't employ him anyway. From what the Agents told me, I think they wanted to kill him _more_ than they wanted my head."

"Agents? This sounds interesting. There were no Agents in my universe, or I simply never came across them. Who or what are they?"

Marc gave a carefree shrug. "They aren't much. Just Self Inserts from alternate universes employed by Fate to kill other Self Inserts because she hates our guts and spends her entire time scheming to murder anyone that dares interfere with her precious timeline."

"... I don't know how to respond to that. Fate was a personified concept in your universe? Sounds...quite unpleasant."

"It was." Marcus winced. "It's not nice having a fundamental force of the universe screaming for your blood. Still, I'm kind of used to everyone and everything that's stronger than me trying to kill me. Raising the bar to include Conceptual Manifestations and overpowered people from Alternate Universes was just the next step, really."

Minato slid his hands behind his head, fingers laced, as he asked, "If you regularly have to deal with things like that, logically you should be stronger than you are now, unless you're currently restricted by a seal or something similar."

At this point, Minato's companion burst into laughter. It began genuinely amused, but by the end it had been tainted- saturated with too many unspoken things. "No. No seals or anything like that. Just inevitable difficulty curves, really. I'm not Ichigo, and I don't have his stupid quick growth rate. I'm just a normal guy dropped into a fictional world of giants, expected to stand just as tall as them and match figures with _centuries_ more experience than me. Considering I've only had sixteen years to get to this point compared to the centuries it takes many Lieutenants, I still consider myself fairly strong, thank you very much."

"How strong are you then?"

A wry grin at this point. "Sometimes strength isn't important. I was weaker than the Menos, weaker than the Vizard, weaker than the Lieutenants and the Captains, weaker than the Arrancar and Ulquiorra, weaker than the _Agents_ and _Omega_. I am oh so horribly weak. And yet… I've survived this long, haven't I? And I've _beaten_ them, in many cases, despite my weakness. So why don't you tell me how strong _you are_? Just how much did _you_ bleed to get to this point?"

Minato smiled, a genuine one this time, "I applaud your strength of character. I am not quite as...resilient as you are. In your situation, I probably would have found a rock to hide under till it was all over and I had been forgotten. But our situations are not quite comparable. You arrived sixteen years prior, so 1985? When I entered Soul Society, the year was 1550."

"Ouch." Marcus winced. "You're older than dirt, old man. I bet you've lived through some shit, haven't you?"

Minato averted his eyes and spoke, tone solemn, "I was there when the first shot was fired at Lexington, and watched the mushroom cloud blossom over Hiroshima with my own eyes."

Realisation was dawning on Marcus, Minato could see it in his eyes. Minato _had_ lived through many years. He could go up to someone in the street, and would have been active even before said person's great, great grandparents had been alive. Humans have a short life span of barely a hundred years if they're _really_ lucky, yet Minato had gone almost five times past that amount. How could anyone so young possibly understand or see the world as one who has seen the very world itself shift and change like sand constructs in the wind?

Even discounting all the many supernatural things Minato had been involved in, he had lived through many, many, _many_ things.

"They say many Captain are centuries old… I don't think I truly got what that meant until just now." Admitted the young man.

"Eventually, you will presumably give a similar speech to someone much younger. Yes, I was a Captain...once, though those days are behind me now."

" _You_ were a Captain? No wonder you took down Kenpachi so easily. The old guard are freakin' OP, and so are you. I only got to Seventh Seat, though it's more of a long running joke now just how inappropriate the rank is considering my actual ability is about Lieutenant level."

A small grin made its way onto Minato's face, "Well, I suppose that makes me your sempai, now doesn't it?"

"Not on your life, old man." Marcus deadpanned, but he had just the smallest smile. Minato was glad. He was still stuck in a foreign world, one where his machinations had never come to light. The board was as it once was, but the unseen third player had been booted from the game long ago. All of his favorite pieces were gone, leaving Minato with only himself. For the minute, Marcus was the only potential ally he had.


	6. Marcus III

**DV: Another chapter of fun. Anyway, while we would like more reviews (they do help us know what readers think), we're not the type to hold a story hostage for reviews. We're not that egotistical.**

 **US- Well,** _ **I'm**_ **not, anyhow ;) Anyway, is it just me or does the vast majority of entertaining material from this fic span from the sheer** _ **banter**_ **between our characters? Hell, do our characters even like each other, or do they just put up with each other as they are both annoying jerks? Either way- enjoy another prompt update where surprise surprise, there is** _ **more**_ **banter.**

 **Disclaimer: We think this should be pretty obvious by now, but we don't own** _ **Bleach**_ **.**

* * *

 **Marcus III**

Marcus had to admit that despite Minato being a massive, egotistical jerk who liked sitting on thrones a bit too much, the guy could heal. He was feeling a lot better, and now with some rest Marc was certain that he'd be ready and raring to go in no time.

The two of them had descended into silence while Minato worked, and Marcus was glad of this. He really needed time to think- puzzle, really.

It was still hard for him to wrap his head around just how much had happened in (To him) a single day.

Even in Marcus' chaotic life, being dropped in another dimension was just strange.

His company doubly so. Minato… he didn't know what to make of the man. From their talk earlier he could tell that the man wasn't just old as sin, but stupidly powerful too. He was another Self Insert, but had lived so long he could barely remember the name of the anime. And… well, that was about it. Marcus was only just realising it, but the asshole had barely revealed anything about himself or his own world except to say he was a Captain and that Agents didn't exist in his world.

That didn't exactly matter though. Minato was also the only sorta ally Marcus had in this foreign and dangerous world.

Marcus had no doubts that there would be no repeat of his own world- there was no possible way that he could settle into the Gotei 13 like he did in his world. It didn't matter that he was competent and had gone through six years of the Academy, he had no past here. The paranoid higher ups would never let him join their ranks.

Then again, Marcus wasn't jumping at the chance to re-enter the military. He had two goals. One, murder a certain person. And two, maybe go home when he was done.

But the murder was the most important thing.

" _I wish I could talk to you still, Javan."_ Marcus mused internally, still missing the voice of his once friend. Omega's appearance was normally enough to Disrupt his connection to his pseudo-spirit, but Marcus knew that even when he awoke Marcus wouldn't hear his voice.

Unfortunately there had been a certain amount of...friction between the two. It had been weeks since they had been on speaking terms with each other, and weeks since Marcus had personally silenced their communication methods.

Marcus suddenly wished for nothing more than to hear another voice- the silence he had earlier enjoyed to give himself thinking time was no longer welcome.

"Sooooo… Minato… what's the plan of action now? I'm basically healed up now, so what do we do?"

Minato gazed down, eyes piercing, "You are hardly healed. I have had time to do the rudimentary work. I wasn't Captain of the 4th. But as for plan of action after that...we need to figure out what is going on. Our killing of Kenpachi Zaraki will somewhat affect things, but I want to see what those immediate ripples are before we commit to anything yet."

Marc blurted out the words before his mouth could filter them. "Oh god, you're one of _those_ types!"

In fact, it wasn't a surprise. Enough clues were in place for him to figure it out.

"What do you mean?"

"You're an Aizen Wannabe! No, an _Urahara_ Wannabe, with the fan and everything! Either way, you're a scheming Magnificent Bastard fellow! Watching in the shadows, calculating everything and then stating at the end 'It all went according to plan'!" Marcus knew it wasn't wise to taunt the super powered former Captain, but it wasn't an understatement to say that Marcus was out of fucks to give. They were both in the same boat anyway, Minato couldn't afford to off him just yet.

Minato just gave a cagey smile, accentuated with the fan, "In fact, you figuring that out was all according to plan."

Seeing that he seemed more amused than angry, Marc decided to continue the gag. "Oh no! I bet that you used a combination of Memory Dust and Bullshit Emitters to force this outcome! How did I not see this nefarious act coming?"

"Nobody suspects the simple business man." The fan was waved melodramatically.

"What's up with the suit anyway? You using your Bastard tendencies to play the Stock Market or something, old man?"

Rolling his eyes, Minato shot back, "Nothing in this world is free. So once I wasn't with Soul Society, yes, I took a job on Wall Street."

Marcus certainly wasn't surprised. "Getting back on track though, what _are_ we going to do? An… an old friend once told me 'what do you want, what do you have, and how can we use what we have to get it?'."

"Well, we have ourselves. You've stated to be around the level of a lieutenant, and I'd take my chances against anyone except Unohana or Yamamoto. Furthermore, we have all the chaos that Ichigo is creating. And to top it off, I can count the people on one hand that know anything more than the bare-bones information about us. That's not a bad starting point, honestly."

Marcus guessed Minato was right about that. Minato was suggesting that the two of them were tough enough to make it through the entire events of the Ryoka Invasion, and that as Outsiders they were utter unknowns thus would be unpredictable. Still, Marcus needed _goals_. Thing to aim for, and things to beat. For so long now the goal had been 'kill Omega, protect friends'. The friends were gone, but he still needed to kill Omega. That was broad though, he preferred step by step things. Do this training, fight this person, make this ally.

And while it was just the start of an idea… Marcus had _something_. The only question was whether he could actually trust Minato to help him. He knew nearly nothing of him, while his Urahara tendencies only mudded what he _had_ figured out. How did he know that the ex-Captain wouldn't stab him in the back?

' _ **Trust no one'**_

Still, Marcus literally _couldn't_ get what he wanted alone. This idea… if successful he might be able to get everything he wanted.

"I… I have an idea. I wouldn't normally consider it, but this isn't my world. I can face the consequences of my actions, so long as my goals are achieved."

"Which is to kill that Omega fellow and maybe return home, correct? Don't worry, a king does not so quickly dispose of one of his Knights."

Damn, Minato was perceptive. Perhaps he have revealed too much about himself earlier. Thank god he hadn't spilled _everything_. "My idea is that we aim for the top. In this war of Chessmasters there is one goal and one target. I say that we steal the prize everyone wants. I say we claim the Hōgyoku for our own."

Minato drew a long breath, seemingly pondering, "You are aware of all the obvious repercussions of such an act?"

"I am." Marcus nodded.

"Well, I..somewhat agree with the idea. However, I disagree with your timing and methods. Sosuke Aizen will be defeated, even with it. However, it is impossible for it to be destroyed by anything that exists in this world. Thus, I propose we covertly remove and replace it with fake once Urahara repossess' it after Aizen is sealed. Trust me, he won't ever try to use it and figure out the swap. Then we won't be caught between two sides by painting a metaphorical target on our backs."

" _Wow, he really is passive."_ Still, Marcus just couldn't agree with such a method. Hide in the shadows for the entire war, then just swap it out later? Marcus couldn't afford to just sit on the sidelines and wait. Omega was still active and scheming, plus there was no guarantee things would go as Minato suggested. Kenpachi was dead, and if having Fate trying to murder him had taught him anything, the universe hates it when someone changes something.

Plan for the worst, because things _will_ go wrong.

Even a small butterfly might mean a world of difference. And there was no guarantee that the Hōgyoku would ever be extracted from its host.

He'd give one last attempt to persuade Minato. "I don't mind having a target on my back. If anything, _now_ is the time to act! We're unknowns, and Aizen can't possibly have planned for us! Give him time and he _will_ wreck us. I say we kidnap Rukia _now_ while nobody is expecting it, extract the Hōgyoku, then flee to the human world and hide out in Hawaii. We then use said bullshit tool to tear reality a new one and go home."

Tear a hole through reality, _and_ give Marcus the power up he desperately needed to finally surpass Omega. If the thing could send Aizen to the god tier, surely it could give him a measly little power up?

But would Minato listen? He was old, and no doubt set in his ways. Could Marcus really see Minato conceding, or would his cautious nature win out?

"That plan has some merit, true. However, as is typical with the young, you haven't seen all the potential cons. First off, Aizen won't bother with us if we don't give him a reason too. Second, I'm sure you've seen Kyōka Suigetsu at least once, and you know that's all it takes. Does the hypnosis transfer over? We don't know. And third, can the Hōgyoku even rip reality like that? Is potential death worth a maybe?"

"Screw the potential death! It's not like I have that much to live for anyway once I've dealt with Omega!"

A sigh, "If we can come up with a way to fool Aizen, yes it is possible, or frame Urahara, your plan will work."

"So what are we doing then? It seems like the Hōgyoku is our best bet either way, so what plan have you got oh wise one?"

"If we want to make this happen now, we need to go _now_. If we get to Rukia and take the Hōgyoku from her and vanish before she leaves the tower, Aizen will think Urahara gave him a red herring. Since you're too hot-headed to wait, that's our best bet."

"I'm not hot headed… just very Stubborn." Marcus grinned at his own little private joke. It had taken work, but Minato now seemed receptive to his idea. Now they would just need to plan themselves a heist. "Come Minato, let's _discuss_ just how we're gonna pull this off…"


	7. Gin I

**DV: If this POV seems utterly out of left-field, don't worry, it's supposed to be. We decided to take pity and show you at least some of the concussive waves through what was canon.**

 **US- Ahh… don't you just love it when a plan comes together? Especially one that involves stealing the McGuffin and utterly wrecking the canon plot? Either way, things are afoot! … well, they will be next time. Until then, enjoy Something Completely Different. After all, the M-Team are hardly the only main characters here...**

 **Disclaimer: Since** _ **Bleach**_ **is over...and this is not, we clearly don't own it. But we do thank Kubo for an interesting base to work off of.**

* * *

 **Gin I**

The one thing Ichimaru Gin knew with absolute certainty was that his 'boss' was a troublesome man. Oh yes, he hated him and fully intended to kill him, but that didn't change things. While Gin could respect many things about Aizen, albeit grudgingly, and hate much more, he would still consider him to be troublesome.

After all, he was always scheming. Yet, as soon as one unknown variable strikes he just _has to_ go and _change_ his plans, putting in measures to activate one of his no doubt many backups. Certainly, Aizen probably had good reasons for doing so, but it annoyed the Third Squad Captain that he didn't _know_ these reasons, and knew even less of just what all these backups were.

After all, just how much trouble could two unknown Ryoka appearing from nowhere and killing a single insignificant Captain cause?

Apparently a lot, as Aizen had decided to switch to his Plan B- a completely different idea to his original plan.

The snake found this to be _really_ unnecessary. Why change so much when the original idea was good enough anyway? Still, some of the details Aizen had revealed about his Plan B _were_ quite interesting, and in many ways Plan B was just as promising as Plan A. One such interesting point was the role he would play in it, for one thing.

"Sorry, Kurosaki Ichigo, but it looks like I have to take you into custody. No hard feelings, it's just orders, okay?" He smiled widely in the way that he _knew_ people found discomforting, having confronted Ichigo and his two companions on the orders of the Gotei 13 and Aizen alike.

The orange haired teen paled, as did his two companions. The other two took off in the other direction, clearly hoping to escape.

Ichimaru _could_ easily cut them down before they left the area, but in a way it was better to let them escape. He no longer had to put effort into isolating Ichigo, as his 'companions' had done the work for him. Besides which, it wasn't like Gin actually _cared_ if Aizen's plan went off without a hitch. It was unlikely, but maybe those two could throw some sort of wrench in the work of Aizen's plan, or at least make him sweat a little.

Soon Gin would be in a much worse position to target Aizen, so undermining him now was key. Alas, letting Ichigo himself go was too much- he only had so much leeway, with both Aizen _and_ the Gotei 13 suspicious of his motives.

"So you're here to capture me, huh?" The orange head practically growled, unslinging the massive butchers knife he called a Zanpakuto. "I won't be taken out so easily! I don't care if you're a Captain, I refuse to lose until I've rescued Rukia!"

"Hmmm… you can try, but either way, I _will_ be cutting you down today…" he threatened darkly, drawing his own blade, "Let's see if you are even capable of surviving my Shikai, shall we?"

Then Gin _thrust_ , releasing his Shikai silently, and the fight began. Ichigo ducked over to the side as the thin blade passed over his left shoulder with millimeters to spare. Only for the blade to slice downwards into his collarbone.

The fifteen year old grunted in pain, leaping back to try and escape the edge from cutting more. The blade extended though, and only cut more.

In the end, Gin had been ordered to go easy on the kid, to try and motivate that insane talent to improve that Aizen insisted he had. But at this moment, Gin was just _far too fast_ for someone as green as Ichigo to face.

"I…won't…lose!" Ichigo roared, his spiritual pressure exploding. He used his massive blade as leverage, almost prying the blade from his body. Gin allowed it, and watched as Ichigo acted like it was a massive achievement, stopping the sword from digging in deeper.

"Didn't you know? That was just me warming up… the fact that you were even hit by such a slow attack is disappointing."

Ichigo grit his teeth, eyes stuck in a glare as he grabbed his sword with both hands, making the rookie mistake of leaving his body open by going for an overhead blow. It was deflected easily, while the counter from Gin left a bloody trail across his side.

"I've decided." announced the Captain, seeing a perfect way of both weakening the boy while also giving him the apparent 'motivation' his boss required him to provide. "I'm gonna take my time with you. I'm gonna show you just how weak you really are. Every time you fail to strike me, I'll cut you. Every time you falter, I'll make you bleed. For every opening, every flaw, every _failure,_ I'll strike. Now… why don't you try and prove me wrong?"

The rookie charged, and the battle continued. Swing after swing, hit after hit, again and again the teen attacked relentlessly, but every time was blocked and punished with another cut he was unable to defend against.

Ichimaru Gin could tell he was getting tired- get weak. He was losing blood quickly, and he could _tell_ that he was losing this fight.

"Why… can't… I… hit you already!?" Ichigo yelled, with another painfully direct attack.

"That's pretty simple. You're weak. You may have beaten Lieutenant Abarai, but what did you think the power gap between captains and lieutenants are? Not to mention Abarai-kun is one of the weaker lieutenants."

Ichigo said nothing, but Gin could imagine the words rolling about in his head. 'That can't be true', 'I can't be that weak', 'I can't save Rukia as I am now'.

"Ya get your problem yet, Ichigo? You hesitate, you don't think, you know _nothing_. I am a Captain, the pinnacle of what a Shinigami can reach. I have mastered my Shikai to the point of perfection, and have reached this point through my own merits. And yet, all you do is swing your sword around wildly. You can't possibly succeed."

"Don't say it." Ichigo warned.

" _You can't save her_." he sneered, emphasising the discouraging words, "You just don't want to save her _enough_. If you can't see my attacks coming, or block them, or even make me bleed, then you just aren't trying hard enough, are you?"

SPLAT! For a single moment Ichimaru stopped holding back, and launched his sword forwards in rapid thrust It plunged straight through Ichigo's stomach, then retracted as equally fast.

All Ichigo had time to see was a blur, then he had fallen to the floor defeated.

"If you _really_ want to save her, then get up. Show me, Kurosaki Ichigo. Show me your resolve… or be devoured like the prey that you are."

" _There."_ Thought Gin. _"If that isn't enough to kick start his 'growth' then I have no clue what will. I've done my part now, and Aizen can't complain. Either he stays down and I take him into custody, as per the plan, or he gets back up with more resolve, fights me awhile, and is_ then _taken down. Either way… I've won."_

All the snake did then was wait, and watch. Aizen had taken an unhealthy interest him, and he wanted to know _why_. Just what had he seen in the young Shinigami?

Then, he saw it. A twitch. Inch by inch Ichigo's hand crept towards the dropped blade, then clutched it tight.

"So you _are_ gonna get up, huh?" Gin muttered.

Second by second, Ichigo recovered. Despite the massive injuries, all the cuts and tears, the hole in his stomach and the slice through his collarbone- despite all this, he was getting back to his feet.

"You're resilient, I'll give ya that."

However, Ichigo didn't seem to be listening. There was a vacant look in his eye as if he was looking beyond Gin, seeing something that only he could perceive. "You're right… I'm scared. I look back, and I hesitate. But… I want to know you! To get stronger with you! I want to win!"

In an act of desperation, Ichigo launched himself at Gin, intent on attempting to take the captain out with a single blow, "Zangetsu! This is it! My Resolve! My Getsuga Tensho!"

The wave of crescent shaped energy blasted its way through the area, flattening the landscape as it passed. For a single second, Gin opened his normally closed eyes, betraying the small amount of surprise that he felt. _'That_ is _quite a potent attack.'_

Then the wave was almost upon him, and he reacted, retracting his Zanpakuto to his side and shunpo-ing out of danger

When the dust cleared, Ichimaru Gin was not to be found. If one was to look closer though, it would reveal the fact that the Captain hadn't quite been fast enough to totally evade the threat. A small shred of his captain's haori floated to the ground, apparently severed from the main bulk of the uniform.

Gin smirked as he stood behind Ichigo as the boy collapsed from exhaustion. He laid a hand on Ichigo's shoulder, giving the poor boy his most unsettling smirk. "Now that _was_ a little bit better." it had certainly been much more potent than anything he'd displayed earlier. "I guess I'd better take you into custody before you bleed out, huh?"

Once the boy was in prison… well, that's when things would get interesting. How events would turn out would really depend on what happened then, and whether the boy was rescued from the prison by his friends, or if _other_ events occurred.

Either way Gin would do what he did best: slink in the darkness, then strike when it best suited him. He'd come out on top. He always did.


	8. Minato III

**DV: Now, I know we said we'd have chapters out every Sunday...oops? But really, we're both uni students, and with school starting up again, we can no longer make any guarantees, though we'll do our best to not take too terribly long in between chapters.**

 **US- Well,** _ **technically**_ **not a uni student. I'm starting my first year this September, but I suppose the principle is the same. If anything, be glad we've had such regular updates so far. Still, that isn't to say we won't be updating. Nah- we have plenty of good stuff planned in the future...**

 **Disclaimer: Do we still need this part? It just serves to unnaturally pad our word count.**

* * *

 **Minato III**

" _It is quite...convenient that the sewer system is so comprehensive,"_ Minato thought, as he and Marcus trekked their way towards the tower where Rukia Kuchiki was being held. The system ran throughout the entirety of the Seireitei, while Minato also knew that one or two secret passages led beyond the walls themselves. He had always known that he would someday need to find his way around in here, and was glad that he had personally memorised the most detailed map of the tunnels available at some point during his centuries in service.

They were heading directly for Rukia Kuchiki, and consequently the Hōgyoku. If all went to plan…

"Hey Minato, we should double check our plan. Just to be sure, y'know." Marcus said casually, stretching his arms as he walked.

"Of course. The main sewers don't lead to a close enough entrance, so we'll have to take one of the side routes. I will warn you now, they are...not as open as these parts, and I'm sure we'll have to crawl at some point."

"...I hate your plans, and consequently you."

Minato smiled beautifully, wishing he was able to see the expression on his companion's face. Young people were just far too amusing, sometimes. "I am aware."

"So, are you going to cast the Bakudō spell to hide us, or shall I?" Marc prompted. "I know the spell, but you likely have more experience with it than me, don't you?"

"Possibly. It depends on how often you used it. While it was often a mainstay for me, I have not found its use needed for many years. I am quite possibly rather rusty. However...you are aware Kido can be double-layered, right?"

"I dabbled more in the physical properties. I'm the Harry Dresden of the Kido world- about as subtle as a brick. I was more interested in quick, tough spells. But screw it- let's do that then."

They stopped for a moment while Minato cast Bakudō No 26: Kyokko **(Bent Light)** , and Marc overlaid his own illusion. Minato was right in noting that he was rusty- his time out of war had made him less capable than he once was. In this case, he was glad that he had Marcus to cover up that flaw.

"Well, at least it's simple once we get in there." though invisible, Minato was sure that the Ryoka Shinigami was smiling. "We sneak through the rest of the sewers, cross the bridge, knock out any guards near the cell discretely, you quickly extract the McGuffin while I wait on standby to intersect anybody that tries to interrupt. Then we just have to get the fuck out of dodge before Byakuya wises up, and then we're home safe and sound."

Minato smirked "Thank you for repeating what we discussed earlier- it's not like I was the one to conceive the plan now, was it?"

"Jackass." Marcus spat, but said nothing more.

After rolling his eyes, Minato gave a wayward gaze towards Marcus, "I just wanted to be sure. You strike me as the lone ranger, cowboy cop type. Most are in youth. We're trying not to attract attention, though we have a plan if we do. It's not perfect, but no plan is. Anyway, take a left up here."

"We here?"

"Yes, we are. Now mission silence."

The duo sunk into their own respective mission mind frames. The necessary tunnel was just ahead- it was time to begin.

XXXXXXXXXX

The journey was cramped and wet, and Minato just hoped that the bloody Hōgyoku was worth his literally soiled clothes now. The smell of the thin passage was almost enough to make him throw up his arms and just go for the 'overpower everyone and everything, take the treasure by force, and _screw_ anyone that got in his way'.

Luckily, that voice was overshadowed by the practical part of his mind which reminded him of the purpose of this mission, and that he mostly certainly wasn't capable of overpowering everyone, not without measures that required more than he was willing to give.

Slowly, pushing the manhole off of the sewer exit, the duo climbed out. They were just out of sight of the passageway leading up to the bridge which would lead to the tower.

Minato took the lead, and invisibly they walked up the steps. Then, at the top, the elder man stopped Marcus casually, pointing out their opposition.

There, at the end of the bridge, looking out across it was Byakuya Kuchiki himself.

This was what the former Captain was afraid of. What he had anticipated, yes, but been afraid of none the less. Now they would need to slip past the Captain, or all subtlety would be lost. Luckily, they had both reigned in their spiritual presences as much as possible before leaving the sewers, so this was the best chance they had.

Slowly, step by step, they approached. Their double tiered illusion seemed to do the trick, as the Captain failed to respond to them once they'd reached halfway across the bridge. Maybe he wasn't expecting a stealthy, invisible approach? Maybe he was too comfortable and expected Ichigo or another unsubtle individual to attack? Maybe he was just in too much thought to notice?

" _Either way, doesn't matter. The real question now is getting the door open. Luckily, it's only that brat Byakuya. If Ukitake was here now…"_

As they approached the door, Minato started building up his reiatsu in his hand. Side-tracking to Byakuya, he placed his hand right behind Byakuya's head, _"Bakudō no 47: Hakufuku."_ **(White Crawl)**

The Kido spell designed to knock people unconscious was quick to act. Without any preparation, Byakuya stood no chance, and he slumped to the ground unconscious.

Marc gave him a kick, then said quietly "Yup, he's down. A bit anticlimactic, actually."

"We move on." Minato grabbed his legs, and Marcus his arms. They dragged him inside then laid their own Kido onto his form to hide him. Sufficiently sure that he was out for the count, Minato tapped Marcus' invisible form and whispered that it was time to carry on.

They stalked through the tower, quietly slipping past most of the guards, before they reached the cell block. A double tap from Minato to Marc's shoulder- the signal for them to each take one side of the prison and knockout _everyone_. Nobody could be allowed to interfere in the extraction of the Hōgyoku.

Minato wasn't sure how Marcus himself was doing, but his own side went down easily. Standards had certainly slipped since he used to be a prime member of the Second Squad. Even while out of practice, he was still able to invisibly incapacitate everyone without the alarm being sounded. Casually walking down the cell corridor, he gandered a look through each cell for Rukia Kuchiki.

At last, he spotted her, meekly sat down and garbed in the traditional white clothes of the accused.

"Well, we found her." Marc said joyfully, removing his cloaking spell while rapping on her cell door.

"The original plan _was_ to knock her out first before undoing the illusion, you realise?" Minato raised one eyebrow and slipped off his own spell, seeing the ruse was up.

"What!?" Rukia jerked upright, not expecting two random strangers to randomly appear out of midair.

"I realise. I just… well, actually I forgot we were in stealth mode for a sec." Marc scratched his head. "Sorry. I'm so used to the banter that it slipped out. You _did_ say you needed to lose the spell before extracting anyway, so why does it matter?"

"Who are you?" The prisoner barked.

"Nobody you need to worry about." Minato waved her off, before turning to the more serious problem. "Marcus, we _specifically_ went over the plan before we left. How did you forget?"

"Meh." Marcus shrugged.

"Are you _ignoring_ me!?" Rukia stomped her foot petulantly.

"Not here for you, this time." Marcus said pointedly, still basically ignoring her. "You just sit there and look pretty, miss damsel in distress. We'll be out of your hair shortly."

"Who are you calling a shorty!?"

"I said _shortly,_ you midget." Minato could tell that at this point he was just calling her that to piss her off. He sighed irritably, annoyed that the plan had _not_ gone off without a pinch thanks to Marcus.

But, plans could always be adapted. And in this case, the most expedient thing would be to wrap this up as fast as possible.

"Screw it, just nab the McGuffin, Minato." Marcus told him sharply.

Minato frowned. "I don't take orders from you. But let's get this show on the road."

The centuries old man mentally prepared himself, grit his teeth, and grabbed his right arm. A stream of power flowed from the limb, covering it. It warped into a thrashing lipped tentacle before surging forwards.

Rukia barely had time to widen her eyes and scream before it plunged into her, perhaps a tad roughly. Minato was observing the procedure carefully, and noted her eyes rolling back and her body spasm as she lost all control. The only thing keeping her upright was the tendril now inside her.

Marc, meanwhile, had stepped out of his eyesight- likely to watch the passageway- leaving Minato to work.

Minato wasn't terribly concerned with Rukia's safety, and was thrashing about in her to find the Hōgyoku as fast as possible. He had to be as quick as possible. This power he was channeling, while amazingly potent, was quite toxic, so he couldn't safely maintain this for terribly long without there being...negative consequences.

Before long, the tendril retreated, reforming into an arm, blue jewel in hand. Rukia Kuchiki collapsed, bleeding out of multiple orifices.

Minato smiled, marveling at the small jewel he was now clutching in his bloody hand. For such a small item, it was amazing what it could do. He looked up from it, to tell his partner in arms that it was time to leave, only to see something unexpected.

Minato's ally was standing weakly behind him and bleeding, with a massive hole through his chest from a concentrated Kido beam which had torn straight through.

"You should have really underestimated me less, stranger." spoke a familiar voice. "That Bakudō spell was far too weak to keep a Kido Master such as me knocked out for long, and while I applaud you for being able to plant it on me in the first place, if you had wanted any chance of victory you should have slit my throat when you had the chance."

Without turning around, Minato pocketed the Hōgyoku and shook his head ruefully, "Byakuya Kuchiki. A valid point. Then again, you shouldn't overestimate your own ability. Everything is done for a reason. Even if it's not always clear at the start."

"Oh f-fuck off Minato." Marc spat through clenched teeth. "We got cocky and you underestimated Kuchiki, end of. Don't you even _dare_ and pretend this was part of the script!"

Minato looked at Marcus as his lips peeled back further than humanly possible into a passable imitation of the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderland, "Since when were you under the impression this wasn't part of the plan, Marcus?"

Marc turned to Byakuya with a look of despair. "Please, oh please, take me into custody. I'm not sure if I want to be on the same side as this wannabe any longer."

The Captain reacted little to the humour, and instead unsheathed his blade. "I do not have time for this nonsense. State your name and your purpose, then submit yourself to my custody to be tried by the full might of the law, Ryoka. But first… you can hand over that jewel."


	9. Byakuya I

**DV: So, the end has come. Bleach is over, with a rushed and unsatisfying ending. I wonder how many fans Kubo drove away at the end like that? On the bright side, he doesn't seem to a next generation story planned like Kishimoto, so there's that. Yeah, not even Star Trek did a next generation story well, I think.**

 **US- I dunno. I think Niigo would be a totally cool anime protagonist! As clearly the only way to name children characters is change the first syllable of their name! But in all seriousness, beyond our mocking of the source material, a thousand apologies for the wait. Hopefully we'll be a bit more regular in our updates.**

 **Maybe?**

 **DV: Perhaps. Both of us are rather busy, so we write when we get chances, which, unfortunately, doesn't happen every week or even every other week always.**

 **US- But rest assured, the writing happens, and when we have stuff for you, it'll be released. Now, enough of the unscheduled delay. On with the show!**

 **Disclaimer: Do we really look like we own Bleach? For one thing, there is two of us. Pretty sure Kubo is just one dude. Because if he actually** _ **was**_ **a team of crackshot mangaka, then** _ **why the fuck did it take so long for him to finish Bleach?**_

* * *

 **Byakuya I**

Byakuya Kuchiki, the Captain of the Sixth Squad, had noticed that he'd been had almost immediately.

Certainly, it had been unexpected. With reports of Kurosaki Ichigo rushing through the Seireitei with his band of Ryoka like a natural disaster, he hadn't anticipated even the _possibility_ of stealth. He should have noticed the signs: distortions of light, minute fluctuations in spiritual presence, the sound of breath or heartbeat.

Instead, he had been downed with a single Kido spell, unable to put up a resistance as he hadn't seen the technique coming.

The only positive factor in this engagement was that he had been fundamentally _underestimated_. The noble was well known for his beautiful Zanpakuto and his graceful speed, but he was also one of the few Shinigami in the Seireitei to qualify as a Kido Master.

He had been downed by that spell, but it wasn't nearly enough to _keep him down_.

Minutes after being tugged into unconsciousness, the Captain had been able to sense the Kido gripping him and suppressing his mind and body, then had ruthlessly tore it apart. In as composed a way as possible, he had climbed to his feet, and swept his gaze across his surroundings with eyes of steel.

He had been dragged inside, but had suffered nothing. _"Foolish. Had the shoe been upon the other foot, I would have done what_ needed _to be done, rather than this pitiful half measure. When I find the intruder, I will crush their chances of victory."_

With nary a word, he walked further into the tower, towards the goal he knew they would be aiming for- his sister, or rather the criminal Kuchiki Rukia.

His feet followed the path to her cell that he had memorised, and as he got closer his worries grew larger. When he found the first fallen guard, he knew things were dire. With his spiritual senses he found one of the guards far enough away to escape the fate of his brethren, and Shunpoed sharply towards them.

"You there." he began, shocking the guard he had appeared before.

"C-Captain!" He snapped to attention. The captain noted his disheveled state, and concluded that he had been spacing out while on duty. Had he been here under other contexts, Byakuya would have made sure to sternly _chastise_ the man.

"At ease. Quickly, lock the tower down. We have an intruder, one I will confront. Alert the other guards and send word onwards." Byakuya preferred to handle this alone, but he wasn't a fool. Getting backup from other Divisions might be necessary.

Especially since Kurosaki was in no way capable of doing anything stealthily, and doubted that he had any friends with any talent in that area either. This, of course, meant the intruder was an unknown, one skilled enough at Kido to ambush him. A dangerous foe indeed.

XXXXXXXXXX

There was no doubt now- the intruders had found Kuchiki Rukia, as proven by every unconscious guard in the area that he could sense. He could sense them now- two individuals, one much stronger than the other. The real surprise was _Rukia_ , whose spiritual presence seemed different. Perhaps stronger, stranger and more unnatural than before.

A momentary stab of worry, one which he immediately discounted and ignored. He wasn't worried for his sister. No. He couldn't be. He was instead anxious for what they were doing to the prisoner, and what this meant for the Thirteen Court Guard Squads.

Silently (Truly quietly, as he had masked his presence, equipped his own cloaking Kido spell, and was actively dampening his footsteps through a useful spell he had learned from Soi Fon), he approached the cell.

Within, a young man stood guard while a man in a suit had shoved _something_ into his sister!

Without thinking, the words were already upon his lips. "Byakurai."

The guard's eyes opened at the words, and he quickly reacted to the shot of thunder aimed at the man who _dared_ impale _his_ sister. It's known to be impossible for an average man or even an average Shinigami to move faster than lightning, so it was just unfortunate that Byakurai wasn't truly a bolt of lightning.

The guard leapt between the scum who dared touch his sister- prisoner, rather- planting himself between the scum and the bolt. Then, a flash of blue light (Bakudō No 8: Seki **(Repulse)** , he identified), and he deflected the spell into the wall. The scum didn't even react to the loud sound, too engrossed in mutilating _her_ , and so he fired thrice more silently.

The guard struggled to react. On the other foot, fighting an invisible foe is difficult, even once you've identified their presence and could observe them spiritually, and so he could barely react as the spells were fired. Even so, he stood resolute, guarding the man in the suit as he worked. All shots were blocked, but Byakuya wasn't a one trick pony.

A single Shunpo to close the distance, and then a final Byakurai strike to the chest as he batted a summoned blade away with one hand.

The guard looked down at his chest in surprise, eyes wide, then mouthed fuck, before responding with a wordless cry of his own which released a blast of wind head on in return.

Byakuya dashed back, moving with the force rather than against it. For a moment he waited, seeing what would happen, and then the strange ritual _stopped_. The man in the suit withdrew his hand, which now held a shining, impossible gemstone, while Rukia collapsed to the floor with a bloody hole through her.

The Captain's eyes narrowed. They would pay.

"Heh. He's done. Finally" Snorted the guard, leaning into a wall for support while he fingered his wound. "Wounded already? Daaaamn, don't tell me that for this adventure I'm _that_ guy? Yeah. I'm _that_ guy."

Byakuya didn't care for his tone, "You should have really underestimated me less, stranger. That Bakudō spell was far too weak to keep a Kido Master such as me knocked out for long, and while I applaud you for being able to plant it on me in the first place, if you had wanted any chance of victory you should have slit my throat when you had the chance."

The salary man pocketed the jewel, and turned around, finally noticing the new presence, "Byakuya Kuchiki. A valid point. Then again, you shouldn't overestimate your own ability. Everything is done for a reason. Even if it's not always clear at the start."

"Oh f-fuck off Minato." The guard spat. The Captain observed carefully, probing for weaknesses "We got cocky and you underestimated Kuchiki, end of. Don't you even _dare_ and pretend this was part of the script!"

So it was the man in the suit, Minato, who had cast the spell? Interesting.

"Since when were you under the impression this wasn't part of the plan, Marcus?" retorted Minato.

Marcus looked the Byakuya, with pleading eyes "Please, oh please, take me into custody. I'm not sure if I want to be on the same side as this wannabe any longer."

If he was any less composed, he would have shaken in anger. _"How dare they mock me like this when they dare to invade the Seireitei, my home, and throw the whole city into chaos. How dare they go against the law, and dare to try and rescue this criminal. And_ how dare they _hurt her!"_

"I do not have time for this nonsense. State your name and your purpose, then submit yourself to my custody to be tried by the full might of the law, Ryoka. But first… you can hand over that jewel."

Because whatever they desired enough to steal from her body must have been important, and brought to mind just how it had gotten in there, why it was there, and who had placed it there?

Minato looked at him, examining, "Why should I? You have no need of it, nor does it belong to you. Furthermore, you do not possess the power to take it from me by force on your own."

"Once more you over-estimate yourself. Did I not overcome your pitiful spell and bring your companion to his knees?"

"Hey! Hey!" Marcus yelled. "...still standing. Technically."

He ignored him. "It it my responsibility to bring you in, and either you will come willingly, or through force." Byakuya unsheathed his sword, a motion practiced a million times over his long years of disciplined training. "But first, I tell you again, for the last time. State your name and purpose, and then _surrender_."

Marcus looked into the eyes of Minato, and a wordless moment passed between the two, before the former spoke. "Welp, we're screwed. So... who plans to heroically sacrifice themselves while their ally flees with his tail between his legs?"

Minato sighed before drawing two blades, "In theory, I should leave since I have it. But I can certainly take on Byakuya while you...frankly can't right now."

"Tis only a scratch. Merely a flesh wound…" Marcus muttered, and Byakuya puzzled over his words.

"It makes no difference, I won't let either of you leave. Soon the reinforcements will be here, and will close off all avenues to escape."

Minato gripped his tanto, holding it sideways, "Hadō No 63: Raikoho **(Thunder Roar Sear)**."

Byakuya's only response to someone careless enough to use such a destructive spell in a confined space was a minute widening of his eyes. Nevertheless, it was easy to counter.

"Bakudō No. 81: Dankū **(Splitting Void)**." The spell struck the shield, but did little to stop the walls around shaking and the dust falling from the shaking ceiling, "Do you really care so little about your life to attempt such a thing? Dankū can block most Hadō, surely you are aware."

"Don't care! Too busy running, you noob!" Cackled Marcus, the voice from behind him. Byakuya's eyes widened for a second, the Raikoho had been a ruse! Rising around him was thick, heavy, red smoke, originating from where the duo had been standing, but was now surrounding him too.

He saw now- Marcus had used his allies averting shot to active some variant of Bakudō No 21: Sekienton to pour copious amounts of smoke into the corridor to mask them, and they had sprinted behind him while he was stationary yet occupied with blocking the spell. Even now, he could see more red smoke flooding out from where Marcus was running to.

" _A Sekienton which produces constant smoke rather than a single explosion? Ingenious. Perhaps_ Marcus _should have been the one to try and subdue me. Clearly he has some worth."_ Byakuya couldn't halt any longer though, he had to pursue the intruders before they-

Behind him, Rukia Kuchiki coughed rapidly. He turned, and saw her sprawled on the floor, not even protected in the slightest bit from the close up Raikoho, and still weak from the bloody hole in her torso.

If Byakuya left, she could die.

But if he stayed to try and administer some basic healing until someone from the Fourth Squad could arrive, then the intruders would escape.

Either way, he was damned. He shouldn't have cared what happened to Rukia; she was a criminal who had broken the laws and would likely be executed anyway, while it was his duty to justice to track the Ryoka. But when she was bleeding out on the floor, he couldn't deny it. He couldn't deny his wife's last request.

Rukia Kuchiki, regardless of her circumstances, was his _sister_. What sort of a man would he be to leave her to die?

But what kind of Shinigami would he be to let those enemies of the Seireitei escape with that suspicious jewel?

" _Just what should I do?"_ He wordlessly cried.

Seconds passed as indecision gripped him. He needed to decide. With every moment Rukia grew weaker and the Ryoka were further away.

In the end, it was an obvious choice. Byakuya Kuchiki made his decision.


	10. Yoruichi I

**DV: We'd apologize for the long wait...but we really can't be bothered. Some authors update once a year. Geez, how do they keep any interest in their stories or even remember to write them?**

 **US- No clue, DV my friend? At this point in time, consider the fact that the audience even got this a miracle. To all of the like, five or so supporters of this fic, rejoice! We have this, and maybe one or two more chapters in reserve to polish up.**

 **DV: We have four more chapters already written after this one, but when we publish them is another matter. Despite that, I think both of us are losing interest in the** _ **Bleach**_ **fandom and are going to wrap up this story earlier than originally intended.**

 **US- Like, I still plan to continue UWB (Far too much of myself emotionally put into the state of that fic), but I can't deal with this sidestory sapping my creative efforts from UWB. Onto happier news though, even once this fic is kicked to the curb, there are positive tidings on the horizon…**

 **DV: Indeed. It was the fandom, not the collaboration, part that makes this hard to do. So we'll be doing more collaboration work in the future, just in different fandoms...one's that aren't on their deathbed...we hope.**

 **US- Oh woe is me. UWB is literally me beating a dead horse but that I'm too freakin' stubborn to give up on. Oh well. Necromancy is always possible. So yeah- keep your eyes on the horizon, and revise your Greek mythology, you smarty pants, you.**

* * *

 **Yoruichi I**

The feline known as Yoruichi was having a _terrible_ day. And to think that things had been going so well… at least until everyone besides her was captured. Even Ichigo, the supposed 'trump card' in this operation, had been easily subdued by Ichimaru Gin.

Yoruichi placed a feline paw upon her face, despairing at what Urahara had been planning when he decided it was a good idea to send a bunch of novice teenagers to reclaim Rukia (And consequently the precious treasure held within her). It's not like he had over half a dozen Captain or Lieutenant class fighters sitting around idly waiting to do something to get back at Aizen…

"Oh wait, he did." Yoruichi gruffly said to herself, seriously wondering why not even a single one of the Vizard had been sent on this mission.

Still, there was little she could do about the fact that she had been sent on a mission with no chance of success, because now she was going to have to _make_ a chance of success. While Yoruichi was both beautiful _and_ powerful, not even a goddess such as herself could single handedly rescue Rukia Kuchiki from her fate.

But, it was within her ability to even the odds- all she needed to do was ensure that she wasn't fighting alone. After all, she previously had been Captain of the Second Squad, removing her wayward charges from their predicament was well within her capabilities.

Thus her present placement, stalking out the defenses of the Seireitei prison. From her general observations it appeared that her former student Soi Fon hadn't changed up the defenses too much, but unfortunately they were on maximum security alert. All of the original invading Ryoka had been captured aside from herself, and only the _other_ party were still at large. Therefore Soi Fon was putting a hell of a lot of effort to make sure that she kept her prisoners locked up while elsewhere the bulk of the Seireitei forces were dedicated to tracking the remaining Ryoka.

At this very moment, Yoruichi could sense five massive Reiatsu presences. Three Captains and two Lieutenants were presently waiting within the confines of the building, while several other higher seated division members had been brought in to bolster the defenses of the prison. Her chances at getting in and out again with her charges were at an all time low.

"Time for some up close reconnaissance," she mused, and vanished like a ghost. To her finely honed senses the world was _slow_ , and she easily dodged patrols, pursuers, guards and all without even a single person noticing her. Truly she had missed the thrill of the eternal game of cat and mouse; the adrenaline and knowledge that one misstep could lead to total ruin was marvelous.

Slowly but surely, she crept closer to the prison, circling round it and observing every fault and weakness, memorizing every guard's position and movements, finding out just what she would need to be dealing with aside from the five big threats.

Then, she spotted something. Two of the outer guards were currently taking an 'unofficial' break (Which would have certainly pissed off her former student had she been aware they were doing this), leaning against a wall and smoking a cigarette each while gossiping.

A large grin came to her lips. _"Well, this discovery is almost as valuable as a full saucepan of milk."_

There was nothing Yoruichi could appreciate more than the gossip of light lipped guards- it was amazing what the grunts of any organisation actually knew. The former Captain ghosted across the rooftops until she found the perfect perch to watch the duo from without being caught.

"Hey, did you hear that Captain Soi Fon's already headed off to her meeting?" Said the shorter guard.

"Well _duh_. I wouldn't dare skive off work if she _was_ around. I swear she has a seventh sense for telling when work is being avoided."

"True, true." Shorty joked, patting his friends back. "Hey, you bring any sake?"

"No."

"Don't get like that! From that tone I can tell you _have_!" Shorty prodded Taller. "C'mon, just a sip!"

"No! Get your own booze, you leech!"

Yoruichi just listened, _"Then again, grunts are grunts for a reason."_

"Please! You never do your friend a favour!"

"Yes I do! I _always_ give you some, you dumbass. Look, will you stop bothering me and let me smoke in relative peace if I give you _one_ sip?"

Shorty nodded his head dumbly- to the cat he looked suspiciously like a bobblehead. She wondered if punching him in the face would cause the unconscious man's head to bob back and forth. "Sure!"

"Fine. But only just before we go back to work."

"Aaah! But who knows when the Captain will be back to rain on our parade? Can't you get it out now."

"She only just left, you dumbass. You know she's the sort of woman to arrive somewhere an hour early just so that she can ram that rod further up her butt by scowling at everyone else when they arrive on time, as if to judge them for daring to _not_ appear before the deadline."

"What's the meeting about anyway?" Shorty asked.

Suddenly, the goddess of flash shot to feet, and she leaned in. This sounded like something she could actually use. "You know how we have those higher ups here to prevent all the captured Ryoka from escaping?"

"Yes?"

"Well, I saw a messenger sprinting to Captain Soi Fons door as if the devil was chasing her."

"So?"

"SO!?" Taller practically shouted. "You dumbass, there's _news_. Ever since they broke into the Tower earlier today and practically mauled Rukia Kuchiki the vast majority of the forces have been looking for them. That messenger means they have a _lead_. I wouldn't be surprised if this Captain's meeting is detailing just how they'll use that information."

Beat. "Wow, you're so smart."

Taller sniggered, and puffed up his chest. "I know, aren't I?"

"Hang on a sec, if we have a bunch of higher ups at prison today, then doesn't that mean we have just as strong a chance of being found skiving our duties than when Captain was here?"

Taller looked dumbfounded for a moment, but recovered. "Sure."

"And since there are five of them, doesn't that mean that even without Soi Fon we still have a five times greater chance of being caught?"

Taller rubbed his short beard thoughtfully. "You know, I never thought of it that way."

Meanwhile, Yoruichi struggled not to snigger at the antics of Dumb and Dumber, as throughout their conversation a Lieutenant had been listening in, not even bothering to hide his presence.

"Ahum." The second in command of the First Squad coughed loudly, causing the duo's attention to snap to him.

"Waaagh! Lieutenant Sasakibe…!"

"Yes, it is I. And just _what_ are you two doing?" He smiled a smile which promised nothing good.

The Flash Goddess wished she could stick around to watch the idiots receive the mother of all scoldings, but with a Lieutenant of present, things were getting a little hot. Especially a Lieutenant as old and skilled as old man Yamamoto's second in command.

WIth a small smile, Yoruichi slipped off into the darkness, leaving no trail behind her. As she left she heard the Lieutenant's head turn to where she had been resting, but he saw nothing. For now though, the cat had been given a lot to think about. Just who were the other Ryoka, as they clearly weren't with her? They certainly weren't on her side as they had almost killed Rukia Kuchiki, but also seemed to be independent of Aizen.

Likewise, just what _was_ the schemer planning? And what were the Captains going to be talking about?

Either way, she needed to do more research. She was in no state at the moment to infiltrate and break out the Karakura group. She would have to wait for an opportunity. All cats know how to bide their time for their prey to place themselves in a position of weakness, and as a stealth specialist she was used to patiently waiting for her foes defences to lower before planting the poisoned dagger in the targets back.

For now she would wait. There was no doubt that these other Ryoka would provide some distraction, and when they did, she would leap at the opportunity. Why oh why hadn't Urahara planned things out more so they might actually have a chance to succeed?


End file.
